Q  , 


COSMIC 
CONSCIOUSNESS 


THE  MAN-GOD  WHOM 
WE  AWAIT 


ALI  NOMAD 


PUBLISHED  BY 

ADVANCED  THOUGHT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

169  N.  State  St.,  Chicago,  III.,  U.  S.  A. 

ENGLISH    RIPKF.SKNTATIVM 

L.  N.  FOWLER  &  CO., 

1,  Imperial  Arcade,  Ludgate  Circut, 

London,  England 


COPYRIGHT,  W1S 

ADVANCED  THOUGHT  PUB.  CO. 
CHICAGO,  m 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  NEW  BIRTH;  WHAT  IT  IS;  INSTANCES  DESCRIBED 

The  religions  and  philosophies  of  the  Orient  and  the  Occident 
compared ;  their  chief  difference ;  The  mistaken  idea  of  death. 
Cosmic  Consciousness  not  common  in  the  Orient.  Why?  What 
the  earnest  disciple  strives  for.  The  Real  and  the  unreal. 
Buddha's  agonized  yearnings ;  why  he  was  moved  by  them 
with  such  irresistible  power;  the  ultimate  victory.  The  identity 
of  The  Absolute ;  The  Oriental  teachings ;  "The  Spiritual 
Maxims  of  Brother  Lawrence ;"  The  seemingly  miraculous 
power  of  the  Oriental  initiate;  does  he  really  "talk"  to  birds 
and  animals?  How  they  learn  to  know  and  read  "the  heart 
of  the  world."  The  inner  temples  throughout  Japan.  The 
strange  experience  of  a  Zen  (a  Holy  Order  of  Japan;,  student- 
priest  in  attaining  ntukti.  The  key  to  Realization.  An  address 
by  Manikyavasayar,  one  of  the  great  Tamil  saints  of  Southern 
India.  The  Hindu  conception  of  Cosmic  Consciousness.  The 
Japanese  idea  of  the  state.  The  Buddhist  "Life-saving"  mon- 
asteries ;  how  the  priests  extend  their  consciousness  to  im- 
measurable distances  at  will.  The  last  incarnation  of  God 
in  India.  His  marvelous  insight.  The  urge  of  the  spiritual 
yearning  for  the  "Voice  of  the  Mother."  His  twelve  years  of 
struggle.  His  final  illumination.  The  unutterable  bliss  pic- 
tured in  his  own  words.  What  the  Persian  mystics  allusion 
to  "union  with  the  Beloved"  signifies;  its  exoteric  and  its 
esoteric  meaning.  The  "Way  of  the  Gods."  The  chief  dif- 
ference between  the  message  of  Jesus  and  that  of  other  holy 
men.  The  famous  "Song  of  Solomon"  and  the  different  inter- 
pretations ;  a  new  version.  A  French  writer's  evident  glimpses 
of  the  new  birth.  Man's  relation  to  the  universe 17 

CHAPTER  II 
MAN'S  RELATION  TO   GOD  AND  TO  HIS  FELLOW-MEN 

The  great  riddle  and  a  new  solution.  The  persistence  of  the  ideal 
of  Perfected  Man;  Has  it  any  basis  in  history?  The  superlative 
faculty  of  spiritual  sight  as  depicted  by  artists,  painters  and 
sculptors.  Symbols  of  consciousness.  The  way  in  which  the 
higher  consciousness  expresses  itself.  Certain  peculiar  traits 
which  distinguish  those  destined  to  the  influx.  The  abode 
of  the  gods ;  The  conditioned  promise  of  godhood  in  Man. 
What  is  Nirvana?  The  Vedantan  idea.  The  Christian  idea. 
Did  Jesus  teach  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth?  Is  there  a  basis 
for  belief  in  physical  immortality?  A  new  explanation.  The 
perilous  paths.  Those  who_  "will  see  God."  Evolution  of  con- 
sciousness from  prehistoric  man  to  the  highest  developed 
beings  43 

CHAPTER  III 
AREAS   OF   CONSCIOUSNESS 

The  Divine  spark.  Consciousness  the  essence  of  everything.  Axiomg 
of  universal  Occultism.  The  great  central  light  The  teach- 

iii 


2064871 


iv  Contents 

ings  of  Oriental  seers  regarding  the  ultimate  goal.  Different 
stages  of  mankind.  Births  in  consciousness.  Physical  con- 
sciousness; its  limitations.  Mental  consciousness;  the  jungles 
of  the  mind.  Soul  consciousness;  whither  it  leads.  The  irre- 
sistible urge.  Why  we  obey  it.  Sayings  of  ancient  manu- 
scripts. Perfecting  Light.  The  disciple's  test.  _  Awakening 
of  the  divine  man.  Is  he  now  on  earth?  What  is  meant  by 
the  awakening  of  the  inner  Self.  Is  the  atman  asleep?  The 
doctrine  of  illusion;  its  relation  to  Cosmic  Consciousness..  67 

CHAPTER  IV 
SELF-NESS  AND  SELFLESSNESS 

The  Dark  Ages.  The  esoteric  meaning  of  religious  practices.  The 
penetrating  power  of  spiritual  insight.  The  mystery  of  con- 
version. The  paradox  of  Self-attainment  and  the  necessity  for 
selflessness.  The  Oriental  teachings  regarding  the  Self.  The 
wisdom  of  the  Illumined  Master.  The  test  of  fitness  for 
Nirvana.  What  caused  Buddha  the  greatest  anxiety?  Experi- 
ences of  Oriental  sages  and  their  testimony.  What  correla- 
tion exists  between  Buddha's  desire  and  the  attainment  of 
Cosmic  Consciousness  among  Occidental  disciples 88 

CHAPTER  V 

INSTANCES    OF    ILLUMINATION    AND    ITS    AFTER 
EFFECTS 

The  wonderful  brilliancy  of  Illumination.  Dr.  Bucke's  descrip- 
tion of  the  Cosmic  Light ;  his  opinion  regarding  the  possibility 
of  becoming  more  general.  Peculiar  methods  of  producing 
spiritual  ecstacy,  as  described  by  Lord  Tennyson  and  others. 
The  Power  and  Presence  of  God,  as  a  reality.  The  dissolution 
of  race  barriers.  The  effacement  of  the  sense  of  sin  among  the 
Illuminati.  What  is  meant  by  the  phrase  "naked  and 
unashamed."  Will  such  a  state  ever  exist  on  the  earth? 
Efforts  of  those  who  have  experienced  Cosmic  Consciousness 
to  express  the  experience;  the  strange  similarity  found  in 
all  attempts.  Is  there  any  evidence  that  Cosmic  Conscious- 
ness is  possible  to  all  ?  106 

CHAPTER  VI 

EXAMPLES    OF    COSMIC    CONSCIOUSNESS,    WHO    HAVE 
FOUNDED    NEW    SYSTEMS    OF    RELIGION 

The  simple  religion  of  early  Japan.  The  inner  or  secret  shrine:  its 
esoteric  and  its  exoteric  office.  The  Mystic  Brotherhoods. 
Why  the  esoteric  meanings  have  alw_ays  been  veiled.  The 
great  teachers  and  the  uniformity  of  their  instructions.  Philoso- 
phy as  taught  by  Vivekananda.  The  fundamental  doctrine  of 
Buddhism.  Have  the  present-day  Buddhists  lost  the  key? 
Is  religion  necessary  to  Illumination?  The  fruits  of  Cosmic 
Consciousness  127 

CHAPTER  VII 
MOSES,  THE  LAW-GIVER 

The  salient  features  of  the  Law  as  given  by  Moses  to  his  people. 
Had  the  ancient  Hebrews  any  knowledge  of  Illumination  and 
its  results?  The  symbol  of  liberation.  Its  esoteric  meaning..  145 

CHAPTER  VIII 
GAUTAMA— THE    COMPASSIONATE 

Prenatal  conditions  influencing  Buddha.  His  strange  temperament. 
His  peculiar  trances  and  their  effect  upon  him.  Why  Buddha 


Contents  v 

endured  such  terrible  struggles ;  is  suffering  necessary  to 
Cosmic  Consciousness?  From  what  was  Buddha  finally  liber- 
ated? The  simplicity  of  Buddha's  commandments  in  the  light 
of  Cosmic  Consciousness.  The  fundamental  truths  taught  by 
Buddha  and  all  other  sages.  Buddha's  own  words  regarding 
death_  and  Nirvaaa.  Last  words  to  his  disciples.  How  the 
teachings  of  Buddha  compare  with  the  vision  of  Cosmic 
Consciousness.  His  method  of  development  of  spiritual  con- 
sciousness  151 

CHAPTER  IX 
JESUS    OF    NAZARETH 

The  astonishing  similarity  found  in  all  religious  precepts;  the 
distinguishing  feature  of  the  teachings  as  delivered  by  Jesus. 
His  repeated  allusion  to  "the  light  within."  The  great  com- 
mandment he  gave  to  his  disciples.  Love  the  basis  of  the 
teachings  of  all  Illumined  minds.  The  "Second  Coming  of 
Christ."  The  signs  of  the  times 163 

CHAPTER  X 
PAUL    OF    TARSUS 

His  undoubted  experience  of  illumination  and  its  effects.  Was 
Paul  changed  by  "conversion,"  or  what  was  the  wonderful 
power  that  altered  his  whole  life?  Why  Paul  sought  seclu- 
sion after  his  illumination.  Characteristics  of  all  Illumined 
ones.  The  desire  for  simplicity.  Paul's  incomparable  descrip- 
tion of  "the  Love  that  never  faileth."  The  safe  guide  to  illu- 
mination. The  "first  fruits  of  the  spirit,"  as  prophesied  by 
Paul  181 

CHAPTER  XI 
MOHAMMED 

Mohammed  a  predestined  Leader.  Condition  of  Arabia  at  his 
birth.  Prophecies  of  a  Messiah.  His  peculiar  psychic  tem- 
perament ;  his  frequent  attacks  of  catalepsy ;  his  sufferings 
because  of  doubt ;  his  never-ceasing  urge  toward  a  final 
revelation.  His  changed  state  after  the  revelation  on  Mt. 
Hara.  His  unswerving  belief  in  his  mission ;  hi:;  devotion  to 
Truth;  His  simplicity  and  humility.  His  claim  to  Cosmic 
Consciousness  198 

CHAPTER  XII 
EMANUEL    SWEDENBORG 

Swedenborg's  early  life.  His  sudden  change  from  materialism. 
The  difficulty  of  clear  enunciation.  His  unfailing  belief  in  ths 
divinity  of  his  revelations.  How  they  compare  with  experi- 
ences of  others.  The  frequent  reception  of  the  Light.  The 
blessing  of  Cosmic  Consciousness 217 

CHAPTER  XIII 

MODERN  EXAMPLES  OF  INTELLECTUAL  COSMIC 

CONSCIOUSNESS:     EMERSON;    TOLSTOI; 

BALZAC 

The  way  to  Illumination  through  intellectual  cultivation;  Emerson 
a  notable  example ;  The  Cosmic  note  in  his  essays  and  con- 
versations. Emerson's  religious  nature.  His  familiarity  with 
Oriental  philosophy;  his  remarkable  discrimination; 


vi  Contents 

LEO  TOLSTOI— RUSSIAN  PHILOSOPHER 

Tolstoi  the  strangest  and  most  unusual  figure  of  the  Nineteenth 
Century;  His  almost  unbearable  sufferings;  his  avowed  material- 
ism ;  his  horror  of  death ;  The  prevailing  gloom  of  his  writings 
and  to  what  due.  Incidents  in  his  life  previous  to  his  illumina- 
tion. The  remarkable  and  radical  change  made  by  his  experi- 
ence. To  what  was  due  Tolstoi's  great  struggle  and  suffer- 
ing? Why  the  great  philosopher  sought  to  die  in  a  hut.  His 
idea  not  one  of  penance.  The  signal  change  in  his  life  after 
illumination.  What  he  says  of  this 238 

HONORE  DE  BALZAC 

Balzac's  classification  as  of  the  psychic  temperament.  His  amaz- 
ing power  of  magnetic  attraction.  His  feminine  refinement  in 
dress.  His  power  of  inspiration  gave  him  his  place  in  French 
literature.  The  dominant  motive  of  all  his  writings.  His 
unshakable  conviction  of  immortality.  His  power  to  function 
on  both  planes  of  consciousness.  The  lesson  to  be  drawn  from 
Seraphita.  Balzac's  evident  intention,  and  why  veiled.  The 
inevitable  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  the  Symbolical  char- 
acter   244 

CHAPTER  XIV 

ILLUMINATION  AS   EXPRESSED   IN  THE  POETICAL 
TEMPERAMENT 

Poetry  the  language  of  Cosmic  Consciousness.  Unconscious  instru- 
ments of  the  Cosmic  law.  The  true  poet  and  the  maker  of 
rhymes.  The  mission  and  scope  of  the  poetical  temperament. 
How  "temperament"  affects  expression.  No  royal  road  to 
Illumination.  Teaching  of  Oriental  mysticism.  Whitman's 
extraordinary  experience.  His  idea  of  "Perfections."  Lord 
Tennyson's  two  distinct  states  of  consciousness;  his  early  boy- 
hood and  strange  experiences.  Facts  about  his  illumination. 
The  after  effects.  Tennyson's  vision  of  the  future.  Words- 
worth, the  poet  of  Nature.  How  he  attained  and  lost  spiritual 
illumination.  How  he  again  received  the  great  Light.  The 
evidences  of  two  states  of  consciousness.  Outline  of  his  illu- 
mination. Noguchi — a  most  remarkable  instance  of  Illumina- 
tion in  early  youth :  Lines  expressive  of  an  exalted  state  of 
consciousness ;  how  it  resulted  in  later  life.  The  strange  case 
of  William  Sharp  and  "Fiona  Macjeod;"  a  perfect  example  of 
dual  consciousness ;  the  distinguishing  features  of  the  self  and 
the  Self;  the  fine  line  of  demarcation.  How  the  writer  suc- 
ceeded in  living  two  distinct  lives  and  the  result.  Remarkable 
contribution  to  literature.  A  puzzling  instance  of  phase*  of 
consciousness .267 

CHAPTER  XV 

METHODS  OF  ATTAINMENT:  THE  WAY 
OF  ILLUMINATION 

The  four  Oriental  methods  of  liberation.  The  goal  of  the  soul's 
pilgrimage.  Strange  theory  advanced.  Revolutionary  results 
that  follow.  How  to  perceive  the  actuality  of  the  higher 
Self.  Gaining  immortality  "In  the  flesh ;"  What  Revelation 
has  promised  and  its  substantiation  in  modern  Science.  The 
prize  and  the  price.  Some  valuable  Yoga  exercises  to  induce 
spiritual  _ecstacy.  What  "union  with  God"  really  means.  The 
Brahmic  Bliss"  of  the  Upanashads.  The  new  race;  its 
powers  and  privileges.  "The  man-god  whom  we  await"  as 
described  by  Emerson 285 


THE  SELF  AND  SYMBOL 

Thou  most  Divine!  above  all  women 
Above  all  men  in  consciousness. 

Thou  in  thy  nearness  to  me 
Hast  shown  me  paths  of  love. 
Yea;  walks  that  lead  from  hell 
To  the  great  light;  where  life  and  love 
Do  ever  reign. 

Thou  hast  taught  to  me  a  patience 
To  behold  whatever  state ; 
However  beautiful  and  joyful;  however   ugly 
and  sorrowful. 

To  know  that  these  are — all! — but 
The  glimmerings  of  the  greater  life — 
Expressions  of  the  infinite. 

According  to  the  finality  of  that  moment 
Now  to  come ;  in  the  eternal  now,  which  thou 
Sweet  Presence,  hast  awakened  me  to — 
I  see  the  light — the  way. 

An  everlasting  illumination 

That  takes  me  to  the  gate;  the  open  door 

To  the  house  of  God. 

I 


2  Cosmic  Consciousness 

There  I  find  most  priceless  jewels; 
The  key  to  all  the  ways, 
That  lead  from  Om  to  thee. 

A   mistake — an   off-turn   from   the   apparent 

road  of  right 

Is  but  the  bruising  of  thy  temple, 
Calling  thy  Self — thy  soul — 
The  God  within;  showing  thee, 
The  nita  of  it  all;  which  is  but  the  half  of  me. 

And  as  thy  consciousness  of  the  two 

The  nita  and  the  it  a,  comes  to  thee 

A  three  is  formed — the  trinity  is  found. 

Through   thee  the  Deity  hast  spoken 
Uniting  the  two  in  the  one; 
Revealing  the  illusion  of  mortality 
The  message  of  Om  to  the  Illumined. 

— AH  Nomad. 


ARGUMENT 


Man  is  essentially  a  spiritual  being. 

The  source  of  this  spiritual  Omniscience  we 
may  not,  in  our  finite  intelligence,  fully 
cognize,  because  full  cognition  would  preclude 
the  possibility  of  finite  expression. 

The  destiny  of  man  is  perfection. 

Man  perfected  becomes  a  god. 

"Only  the  gods  are  immortal,"  we  are  told. 

Let  us  consider  what  this  means,  supposing 
it  to  be  an  axiom  of  truth. 

Mortality  is  subject  to  change  and  death. 
Mortality  is  the  manifest — the  stage  upon 
which  "man  in  his  life  plays  many  parts." 

Immortality,  is  what  the  word  says  it  is — 
godhood  re-cognized  in  the  mortal.  "Im"  or, 
"Om" — the  more  general  term — stands  for 
the  Changeless,  Birthless,  Deathless,  Un- 
namable  Power  that  holds  the  worlds  in  space, 
and  puts  intelligence  into  man.  i^f^,  tu^^^ 

Biologists,  even  though  they  were  to  suc- 
ceed in  reproducing  life  by  chemical  processes 
from  so-called  "lifeless"  (sterilized)  matter, 

3 


4  Cosmic  Consciousness 

making  so  high  a  form  of  manifestation  as 
man  himself,  yet  could  never  name  the  power 
by  which  they  accomplished  it. 

Always  there  must  remain  the  Unknownable 
— the  Absolute. 

"Om,"  therefore,  is  the  word  we  use  to 
express  this  Omniscient,  Omnipotent  and  Omni- 
present power. 

The  term  "mortal"  we  have  already  defined. 
The  compound  im-mortal,  applied  to  individ- 
ual man,  stands  for  one  who  has  made  his  "at- 
one-ment"  with  Om,  and  who  has,  while  still 
in  the  mortal  body,  re-cognized  himself  as  one 
with  Om. 

This  is  what  it  means  to  escape  the  "second 
death,"  to  which  the  merely  mortal  conscious- 
ness is  subject. 

This  is  the  goal  of  every  human  life;  this  is 
the  essence,  the  substance  of  all  religious  sys- 
tems and  all  philosophies. 

The  only  chance  for  disputation  among 
theologians  and  philosophers,  lies  in  the  way 
of  accomplishing  this  at-one-ment.  There  is 
not  the  slightest  opportunity  for  a  difference 
of  opinion  as  what  they  wish  to  accomplish. 

Admitting  then,  that  the  goal  of  every  soul 
is  the  same — immortality — (the  mortal  con- 
sciousness cognizing  itself  as  Om),  we  come 
to  a  consideration  of  the  evidence  we  may 


Argument  5 

find  in  support  of  this  axiom.  This  evidence 
we  do  not  find  satisfactory,  in  spirit  communi- 
cation ;  in  psychic  experiences ;  in  hypnotic 
phenomena;  and  astral  trips;  important,  and 
reliable  as  these  many  psychic  research 
phenomena  are. 

These  are  not  satisfactory  or  convincing 
evidences  of  our  at-one-ment  with  Om, 
because  they  do  not  preclude  the  probability 
of  the  "second^  death ;"  but  on  the  contrary, 
they  verify  jt. 

However,  aside  from  all  these  psychic 
phenomena,  there  is  a  phase  of  human  experi- 
ence, much  more  rare  but  becoming1  some- 
what general,  that  transcends  phenomena  of 
every  kind. 

The  western  world  has  given  to  these 
experiences  the  term  "cosmic  consciousness/' 
which  term  is  self  explanatory.  "u^f"  £  ~~~t  • 

The  Orientals  have  long  known  of  this  goal 
of  the  soul,  and  they  have  terms  to  express 
this,  varying  with  the  many  types  of  the 
Oriental  mind,  but  all  meaning  the  same  thing. 
This  meaning,  from  our  Occidental  viewpoint, 
is  best  translated  in  the  term  liberation,  signi- 
fying to  be  set  free  from  the  limitations  of 
sense,  and  of  self-consciousness,  and  to  have 
glimpsed  the  larger  area  of  consciousness, 
that  takes  in  the  very  cosmos. 


6  Cosmic  Consciousness 

This  experience  is  accompanied  by  a  great 
light,  whether  this  light  ijs_manifested  as 
spiritual,  or^as  intellectual  power,  determine_s 
its  expression. 

The  object  of  this  book  is  to  call  attention 
to  some  of  the  more  pronounced  instances  of 
this  Illumination,  and  to  classify  them,  accord- 
ing as  they  have  been  expressed  through 
religious  enthusiasm;  poetical  fervor;  or  great 
intellectual  power. 

But  we  have  also  one  other  argument  to 
make,  and  this  we  present  with  a  conviction 
of  its  truth,  while  conceding  that  it  must  re- 
main a  theory,  until  proven,  each  individual 
man  or  woman,  for  himself  and  herself.  The 
postulate  is  this: 

Im-mortality  (i.  e.  godhood)  is  bi-sexual. 
No  male  person  can  by  any  possibility  become 
an  immortal  god,  in,  of  and  by  himself;  no 
female  person  can  be  complete  without  the 
"other  half"  that  makes  the  ONE. 

Each  and  every  SOUL,  therefore,  has  its 
spiritual  counterpart — its  "other  half,"  with 
which  it  unites  on  the  spiritual  plane,  when 
the  time  comes  for  attainment  of  im-mortality. 

Sex  is  an  eternal  verity.  The  entire  Cosmos 
is  bi-sexual.  Everything  in  the  visible  uni- 
verse; in  the  manifest,  is  the  result  of  this 
universal  principle.  "As  above  so  below,"  is 


Argument  7 

a  safe  rule,  as  far  as  the  IDEA  goes.  This 
hypothesis  does  not  preclude  perfection  above, 
of  that  which  we  find  below,  but  any 
radical  reversion  or  repudiation  of  nature  is 
inconceivable. 

"Male  and  female  created  he  them."  This 
being  true,  male  and  female  must  they  return 
to  the  source  from  which  they  sprung,  com- 
pleting the  circle,  and  gaining  what? 

Consciousness  of  godhood;  of  completeness  in 
counterpartal  union.  Not  absorption  of  con- 
sciousness, but  union,  which  is  quite  a  different 
idea. 

Out  of  this  counterpartal  union  a  race  of 
gods  will  be  born,  and  these  supermen^  shall 
"inherit  the  earth"  making  it  a  "fit  dwelling 
place  for  the  gods." 

This  earth  is  now  being  made  fit.  This 
fact  may  seem  a  far  distant  hope  if  we  do  not 
judge  with  the  eyes  of  the  seer,  but  its  proof 
lies  in  the  emancipation  of  woman.  Its  evi- 
dences are  many  and  varied,  but  the  awaken- 
ing of  woman  is  the  cause. 

This  awakening  of  woman  constitutes  the 
first  rays  of  the  dawn — that  long-looked  for 
Millenium,  which  many  of  us  have  regarded  as 
a  mere  figure  of  speech,  instead  of  as  a  literal 
truth. 

The  argument  is  not  that  there  has  been  no 


8  Cosmic  Consciousness 

individual  awakening  until  the  present  time; 
but  that  never  before  in  the  finite  history  of 
the  world  has  there  been  such  a  general  awak- 
ening, and  as  it  is  self  evident  that  conditions 
will  reflect  the  idea  of  the  majority,  the  fact 
that  woman  is  being  given  her  rightful  place 
in  the  sense-conscious  life,  proves  that  the 
earth  will  be  a  fit  dwelling  place  for  a  higher 
order  of  beings  than  have  hitherto  constituted 
the  majority. 

The  numerous  instances  of  Illumination,  or 
cosmic  consciousness  which  are  forcing  atten- 
tion at  the  present  time,  prove  that  there  is  a 
race-awakening  to  a  realization  of  our  unity 
with  Om. 

Another  point  which  we  trust  these  pages 
will  make  clear  is  this :  So-called  "revelation" 
is  neither  a  personal  "discovery,"  nor  any 
special  act  of  a  divine  power.  "God  spake 
thus  and  so  to  me,"  is  a  phrase  which  the  self- 
conscious  initiate  employs,  because  he  has  lost 
sight  of  the  cosmic  light,  or  because  he  finds  it 
expedient  to  use  that  phraseology  in  deliver- 
ing the  message  of  cosmic  consciousness. 

If  we  will  substitute  the  term  "initiation," 
for  the  term  "revelation,"  we  will  have  a 
clearer  idea  of  the  truth. 

Perhaps  some  of  our  readers  will  feel  that 
the  terms  mean  the  same,  but  for  the  most 


Argument  9 

part,  those  who  have  employed  the  word 
"revelation,"  have  used  it  as  implying  that  the 
plan  of  the  cosmos  was  unfinished,  and  that 
the  Creator,  having  found  some  person  suit- 
able to  convey  the  latest  decision  to  mankind, 
natural  laws  had  been  suspended  and  the 
revelation  made. 

It  is  to  correct  this  view,  that  we  emphasize 
the  distinction  between  the  two  words. 

The  cosmos  is  complete.  "As  it  was  in  the 
beginning,  it  is  now  and  ever  shall  be,  worlds 
without  end." 

A  circle  is  without  beginning  or  end.  We, 
in  our  individual  consciousness  may  traverse 
this  circle,  but  our  failure  to  realize  its  com- 
pleteness does  not  change  the  fact  that  it  is 
finished. 

We  can  not  add  to  the  universal  conscious- 
ness; nor  take  away  therefrom. 

But  we  can  extend  our  own  area  of  con- 
sciousness from  the  narrow  limits  of  the  per- 
sonal self,  into  the  heights  and  depths  of  the 
atman  and  who  shall  set  limitations  to  the 
power  of  the  atman,  the  higher  Self,  when  it 
has  attained  at-one-ment  with  Om? 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  trace 
the  spiritual  ascent  of  man  further  than  to 
point  out  the  wide  gulf  between  the  degrees 
cf  consciousness  manifested  in  the  lower  ani- 


io  Cosmic  Consciousness 

mals  and  that  of  human  consciousness;  again 
tracing  in  the  human,  the  ever-widening  area 
of  his  cognition  of  the  personal  self,  and  its 
needs,  to  the  awakening  of  the  soul  and  its 
needs;  which  needs  include  the  welfare  of  all 
living  things  as  an  absolute  necessity  to  in- 
dividual happiness. 

Altruism,  therefore,  is  not  a  virtue.  It  is  a 
means  of  self-preservation — without  this 
degree  of  inititation  into  the  boundless  area 
of  universal,  or  cosmic  consciousness,  we  may 
not  escape  the  karmic  law. 

The  revelations,  therefore,  upon  which  are 
founded  the  numerous  religious  systems,  are 
comparable  with  the  many  and  various 
degrees  of  initiation  into  THAT  WHICH  IS. 

They  represent  the  degree  which  the  initiate 
has  taken  in  the  lodge. 

It  may  be  argued  that  this  fact  of  individual 
initiation  into  the  ever-present  truth  of  Being, 
as  into  a  lodge,  offers  no  proof  that  this  earth 
is  to  ultimately  become  a  heaven.  It  may  be 
that  this  planet  is  the  outer-most  lodge  room 
and  that  there  will  never  be  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  initiates  to  make  the  earth  a  fit  dwelling 
place  for  a  higher  order  of  beings  than  now 
inhabit  it.  This  may,  indeed,  be  true.  But  all 
evidence  tends  toward  the  hope  that  even  the 


Argument  1 1 

planet  itself  will  come  under  the  regenerating 
power  of  Illumination. 

All  prophecies  embody  this  promise;  all 
that  we  know  of  what  materialists  call  "evolu- 
tion" and  occultists  might  well  name  "uncov- 
ering of  consciousness,"  points  to  a  time  when 
"God's  will,"  "shall  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven." 

All  who  have  attained  to  cosmic  conscious- 
ness, in  whatever  degree,  have  prophecied  a 
time,  when  this  blessing  would  descend  upon 
every  one;  but  the  difficulty  in  adequately 
explaining  this  great  gift  seems  also  to  have 
been  the  burden  of  their  cry. 

Jesus  sought  repeatedly  to  describe  to  his 
hearers  the  wonders  of  the  cosmic  sense,  but 
realized  that  he  was  too  far  in  advance  of  the 
cyclic  end;  but  even  as  at  that  time,  a  number 
of  disciples  were  capable  of  receiving  the 
Illumination,  so  today,  a  larger  number  are 
capable  of  attainment.  If  this  number  is  great 
enough  to  bring  about  the  regeneration — the 
perfecting — of  the  earth  conditions,  then  it 
must  be  accomplished. 

We  believe  that  it  is.  We  make  the  claim 
that  the  Millenium  has  dawned;  and  although 
it  may  be  many  years  before  the  light  of  the 
morning  breaks  into  the  full  light  of  the  day, 


12  Cosmic  Consciousness 

yet  the  rays  of  the  dawn  are  dispelling  the 
world's  long  night. 

In  his  powerful  and  prophetic  story  "In  the 
Days  of  the  Comet,"  H.  G.  Wells,  tells  of  a 
great  change  that  comes  over  the  world  follow- 
ing an  atmospheric  phenomenon  in  which  a 
"green  vapor"  is  generated  in  the  clouds  and 
falls  upon  the  earth  with  instantaneous  effect. 

As  this  peculiar  vapor  descends,  it  has  the 
effect  of  putting  every  one  to  sleep ;  this  sleep 
continues  for  three  days  and  when  people 
finally  awake,  their  interior  nature  has  under- 
gone a  complete  change. 

Where  before  they  "saw  dimly,"  they  now 
see  clearly;  the  petty  differences  and  quarrels 
are  perceived  in  their  true  perspective.  In- 
stead of  place,  and  power,  and  influence,  and 
wealth,  being  all-important  goals  of  ambition 
as  before  the  change,  every  one  now  strives 
to  be  of  service  to  the  world.  Love  and  kind- 
ness become  greater  factors  than  commercial 
expediency  and  business  success. 

In  many  respects,  Wells'  description  of  the 
great  change  and  its  effect  upon  people,  corre- 
sponds with  the  effect  of  Illumination. 

The  sense  of  entering  into  the  very  heart 
of  things;  of  growing  plants;  the  birds  and 
the  little  wood  animals ;  the  intense  sympathy 
and  understanding  of  life  described  by  him, 


Argument  13 

sounds  like  the  effect  of  cosmic  consciousness, 
as  related  by  nearly  all  who  have  attained  it. 

How  the  world's  activities  are  resumed  after 
the  change,  and  under  what  vastly  different 
incentives  people  work,  form  a  part  of  the 
story,  which  is  written  as  fiction,  but  which 
contains  the  seed  of  a  great  truth. 

This  truth  is  expressed  in  science,  as 
human  achievement,  and  in  religion  as  fulfilled 
prophecy,  but  the  truth  is  the  same. 

Both  religion  and  science  point  to  a  time 
when  this  earth  will  know  freedom  from  strife 
and  suffering.  Even  the  elements  which  have 
hitherto  been  regarded  as  beyond  the  bound- 
aries of  man's  will,  may  be  completely  con- 
trolled ;  not  may  be,  but  will  be.  Manual  labor 
will  cease.  National  Eugenic  societies  will 
put  a  stop  to  war,  when  they  come  to  the 
inevitable  conclusion,  that  no  race  can  by  any 
possibility  be  improved,  while  the  most  per- 
fect physical  species  are  reserved  for  armies. 

Awakening  woman  will  refuse — indeed  they 
are  now  refusing — to  bear  children  to  be  shot 
down  in  warfare,  and  crushed  under  the  jug- 
gernaut of  commercial  competition. 

Those  who  realize  the  signs  of  the  times, 
look  for  the  birth  of  cosmic  consciousness  as  a 
race-consciousness,  foreshadowing  the  new 
day;  the  "second  coming  of  Christ,"  not  as  a 


14  Cosmic  Consciousness 

personal,  vicarious  sacrifice,  but  as  a  factor  in 
human  attainment. 

"For  I  am  persuaded,"  said  St.  Paul,  "that 
neither  death  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  prin- 
cipalities, nor  things  present,  nor  things  to 
come,  nor  powers,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor 
any  other  creature  shall  be  able  to  separate 
us  from  the  love  of  God." 

If  we  interpret  this  in  the  light  of  cosmic 
consciousness,  we  realize  that  we  shall  know, 
and  experience  that  boundless,  deathless,  per- 
fect, satisfying,  complete  and  all-embracing 
love  which  is  the  goal  of  immortality;  which 
is  an  attribute  (we  may  say  the  one  attribute) 
of  God. 

We  are  not  looking  for  the  birth  of  a  Christ- 
child,  but  of  the  Christ-child;  we  are  not  look- 
ing for  a  second  coming  of  o  man  who  shall 
be  as  Jesus  was,  but  we  are  anticipating  the 
coming  of  the  man  (homo),  who  shall  be  cos- 
mically  conscious,  even  as  was  Jesus  of 
Nazareth;  as  was  Guatama,  the  Buddha. 

That  there  may  be  one  man  and  one  woman 
who  shall  first  achieve  this  consciousness  and 
realization  is  barely  possible,  but  the  prepond- 
erance of  evidence  is  for  a  more  general  awak- 
ening to  the  light  of  Illumination. 

"We  shall  not  all  sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be 


Argument  15 

changed  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,"  said  St. 
Paul. 

The  prophecy  of  "the  woman  clothed  with 
the  sun,  and  with  the  moon  under  her  feet," 
is  not  of  a  woman,  but  of  Woman,  in  the  light 
of  a  race  of  men  who  have  attained  cosmic 
consciousness. 

Nothing  more  is  needed  to  make  a  heaven 
of  earth,  than  that  the  great  light  and  love 
that  comes  of  Illumination,  shall  become  domi- 
nant. 

It  will  solve  all  problems,  because  problems 
arise  only  because  we  are  groping  in  the  dark. 
The  elimination  of  selfishness;  of  condemna- 
tion ;  of  fear  and  anger,  and  doubt,  must  have 
far  greater  power  for  universal  happiness  and 
well-being  than  all  the  systems  which  theology 
or  science  or  politics  could  devise.  Indeed,  all 
these  systems  are  sporadic  and  empirical  at- 
tempts to  express  the  vague  dawning  of 
Illumination. 

In  the  fulness  of  its  light,  the  need  for  sys- 
tems will  have  passed  away. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  NEW  BIRTH:  WHAT  IT  IS: 
INSTANCES  DESCRIBED 

The  chief  difference  between  the  religions 
the  philosophies  of  the  Orient  and  those 
of  the  Occident,  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  Orien- 
tal systems,  methods,  and  practices,  emphasize 
the  assumption  that  the  goal  of  these  efforts, 
is  attainable  at  any  moment,  as  it  were. 

That  is,  Oriental  religion — speaking  in  the 
broad  sense — teaches  that  the  disciple  need 
not  wait  for  the  experience  called  death  to 
liberate  the  Self,  the  atman,  from  the  enchant- 
ment or  delusion,  the  maya,  of  the  external 
world.  Indeed,  the  Oriental  devotee  well  knows 
that  physical  death,  tnrityu,  is  not  a  guarantee  of 
liberation;  does  not  necessarily  bring  with  it 
immortality. 

He  well  recognizes  that  physical  death  is 
but  a  procedure  in  existence.  Death  does  not 
of  itself,  change  the  condition  of  maya,  in 
which  the  disciple  is  bound  until  such  a  time, 
as  he  has  earned  liberation — mukti,  which  con- 
dition may  be  defined  as  immunity  from 
further  incarnation. 

17 


i8  Cosmic  Consciousness 

Immortality  is  our  rightful  heritage  but  it 
must  be  claimed,  —  yea,  it  must  be  earned. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  imagine  that  death  makes 
man  immortal.  Immortality  is  an  attribute  of 
the  gods.  But  since  all  souls  possess  a  spark 
of  the  divine  essence  of  Brahman  (The  Abso- 
lute), tnukti  may  be  attained  by  earnest  seek- 
ing, and  thus  immortality  be  realised. 

This  condition  of  awakening,  is  variously 
named  among  Oriental  sages  and  chelas,  such 
for  instance  as  glimpsing  the  Brahmic  splendor; 
mutki;  samadhi;  moksha;  entering  Nirvana;  be- 
coming "twice-born." 

In  recent  years  there  have  come  to  light  in 
the  Occident  a  number  of  instances  of  the 
attainment  of  this  state,  and  these  have  been 
described  as  "cosmic  consciousness;"  "illumi- 
nation;" "liberation;"  the  "baptism  of  the 
Holy  Ghost;"  and  becoming  "immersed  in  the 
great  white  light." 

Baptism,  which  is  a  ceremony  very  gener- 
ally incorporated  into  religious  systems,  is  a 
symbol  of  this  esoteric  truth,  namely  the  necessity 
for  Illuniination^  in  order  that  the  soul  may  be 
rom  further  incarnations  rom  further 


experience. 

The  term  cosmic  consciousness  as  well 
describes  this  condition  of  the  disciple,  as  any 
words  can,  perhaps,  although  the  term  libera- 


The  New  Birth  19 

tion  is  more  literal,  since  the  influx  of  this 
state  of  being,  is  actually  the  liberation  of  the 
atman,  the  eternal  Self,  from  the  illusion  of  the 
external,  or  maya. 

Contrary  to  the  general  belief,  instances  of 
cosmic  consciousness  are  not  extremely  rare, 
although  they  are  not  at  all  general.  Particu- 
larly is  this  true  in  the  Orient,  where  the  chief 
concern  as  it  were,  of  the  people  has  for  cen- 
turies been  the  realization  of  this  state  of  libera- 
tion. 

The  Oriental  initiate  in  the  study  of  relig- 
ious practices,  realizes  that  these  devotions  are 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  attaining  mukti,  where- 
as in  the  Occident,  the  very  general  idea  held 
by  the  religious  devotee,  is  one  of  penance; 
of  propitiation  of  Deity.  This  truth  applies 
essentially  to  the  initiate,  the  aspirant  for 
priesthood,  or  guru-ship.  No  qualified  priest 
or  guru  of  the  Orient  harbors  any  doubt 
regarding  the  object,  or  purpose  of  religious 
practices.  The  attainment  of  the  spiritual 
experience  described  in  occidental  language 
as  "cosmic  consciousness"  is  the  goal. 

The  goal  is  not  a  peaceful  death;  nor  yet  an 
humble  entrance  into  heaven  as  a  place  of 
abode;  nor  is  it  the  ultimate  satisfying  of  a 
God  of  extreme  justice;  the  "eye  for  an  eye" 
God  of  the  fear-stricken  theologian. 


2O  Cosmic  Consciousness 

One  purpose  only,  actuates  the  earnest  dis- 
ciple, like  a  glorious  star  lighting  the  path  of 
the  mariner  on  life's  troublous  sea.  That 
goal  is  the  attainment  of  that  beatific  state  in 
which  is  revealed  to  the  soul  and  the  mind,  the 
real  and  the  unreal;  the  eternal  substance  of 
truth,  and  the  shifting  kaleidoscope  of  tnoya. 

Nor  can  there  be  any  purpose  in  the  pursuit 
of  either  religion  or  philosophy  other  than  this 
attainment;  nor  does  the  unceasing  practice  of 
rites  and  ceremonies;  of  contemplation;  re- 
nunciation; prayers;  fasting;  penance;  devo- 
tion; service;  adoration;  absteminousness;  or 
isolation,  insure  the  attainment  of  this  state 
of  bliss.  There  is  no  bartering;  no  assurance 
of  reward  for  good  conduct.  It  is  not  as 
though  one  would  say,  "Ah,  my  child,  if  thou 
wouldst  purchase  liberation  thou  shalt  follow 
this  recipe." 

No  golden  promises  of  speedy  entrance  into 
Paradise  may  be  given  the  disciple.  Nor  any 
exact  rules,  or  laws  of  equasion  by  virtue  of 
which  the  goal  shall  be  reached.  Nor  yet  may 
any  specific  time  be  correctly  estimated  in 
v.hich  to  serve  a  novitiate,  before  final 
initiation. 

Many  indeed,  attain  a  high  degree  of  spirit- 
uality, and  yet  not  have  found  the  key  of  per- 


The  New  Birth  21 

feet  liberation,  although  the  goal  may  be  not 
far  off. 

Many,  very  many,  on  earth  today,  are  living 
so  close  to  the  borderland  of  the  new  birth 
that  they  catch  fleeting  glimpses  of  the  longed- 
for  freedom,  but  the  full  import  of  its  mean- 
ing does  not  dawn.  There  is  yet  another  veil, 
however  thin,  between  them  and  the  Light. 

The  Buddha  spent  seven  years  in  an  in- 
tense longing  and  desire  to  attain  that  libera- 
tion which  brought  him  consciousness  of 
godhood — deliverance  from  the  sense  of  sin 
and  sorrow  that  had  oppressed  him ;  immunity 
from  the  necessity  for  reincarnation. 

Jesus  became  a  Christ  only  after  passing 
through  the  agonies  of  Gethsemane.  A  Christ 
is  one  who  has  found  liberation ;  who  has  been 
born  again  in  his  individual  consciousness  into 
the  inner  areas  of  consciousness  which  arc  of 
the  atman,  and  this  attainment  establishes  his 
identity  with  The  Absolute. 

All  oriental  religions  and  philosophies  teach 
that  this  state  of  consciousness,  is  possible  to 
all  men ;  therefore  all  men  are  gods  in  embryo. 

But  no  philosophy  or  religion  may  promise 
the  devotee  the  realization  of  this  grace,  nor 
yet  can  they  deny  its  possible  attainment  to 
any. 

Strangely  enough,  if  we  estimate  men  by 


22  Cosmic  Consciousness 

externalities,  we  discover  that  there  is  no 
measure  by  which  the  supra-conscious  man 
may  be  measured.  The  obscure  and  unlearned 
have  been  known  to  possess  this  wonderful 
power  which  dissolves  the  seeming,  and  leaves 
only  the  contemplation  of  the  Real. 

So  also,  men  of  great  learning  have  expe- 
rienced this  rebirth;  but  it  would  seem  that 
much  cultivation  of  the  intellectual  qualities, 
unless  accompanied  by  an  humble  and  rev- 
erent spirit,  frequently  acts  as  a  barrier  to  the 
realization  of  supra-consciousness. 

In  "Texts  of  Taoism,"  Kwang-Tse,  one  of 
the  Illuminati,  writes: 

"He  whose  mind  is  thus  grandly  fixed,  emits 
a  heavenly  light.  In  him  who  emits  this 
heavenly  light,  men  see  the  true  man  (i.  e., 
the  atman;  the  Self).  When  a  man  has  culti- 
vated himself  to  this  point,  thenceforth  he 
remains  constant  in  himself.  When  he  is  thus 
constant  in  himself,  what  is  merely  the  human 
element  will  leave  him,  but  Heaven  will  help 
him.  Those  whom  Heaven  helps,  we  call  the 
sons  of  Heaven.  Those  who  would,  by  learn- 
ing, attain  to  this,  seek  for  what  they  can  not 
learn." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  according  to  the 
reports  offered  us  by  this  wise  man,  that  which 
men  call  learning  guarantees  no  power  regard- 


The  New  Birth  23 

ing  that  area  of  consciousness  which  brings 
Illumination — liberation  from  enchantment  of 
the  senses — mukti. 

Again,  in  the  case  of  Jacob  Boehme,  the  Ger- 
man mystic,  although  he  left  tomes  of  manu- 
script, it  is  asserted  authoritatively,  that  he 
"possessed  no  learning"  as  that  word  is  un- 
derstood to  mean  accumulated  knowledge. 

In  "The  Spiritual  Maxims"  of  Brother 
Lawrence,  the  Carmelite  monk,  we  find  this: 

"You  must  realize  that  you  reach  God 
through  the  heart,  and  not  through  the  mind." 

"Stupidity  is  closer  to  deliverance  than  in- 
tellect which  innovates,"  is  a  phrase  ascribed 
to  a  Mohammedan  saint,  and  do  not  modern 
theologians  report  with  enthusiasm,  the  un- 
lettered condition  of  Jesus? 

In  the  Orient,  the  would-be  initiate  shuts 
out  the  voice  of  the  world,  that  he  may  know 
the  heart  of  the  world.  Many,  very  many, 
are  the  years  of  isolation  and  preparation 
which  such  an  earnest  one  accepts  in  order 
that  he  may  attain  to  that  state  of  supra- 
consciousness  in  which  "nothing  is  hidden  that 
shall  not  be  revealed"  to  his  clarified  vision. 

In  the  inner  temples  throughout  Japan,  for 
example,  there  are  persons  who  have  not  only 
attained  this  state  of  consciousness,  but  who 
have  also  retained  it,  to  such  a  degree  and  to 


24  Cosmic  Consciousness 

such  an  extent,  that  no  event  of  cosmic  import 
may  occur  in  any  part  of  the  world,  without 
these  illumined  ones  instantly  becoming  aware 
of  its  happening,  and  indeed,  this  knowledge 
is  possessed  by  them  before  the  event  has  taken 
place  in  the  external  world,  since  their  con- 
sciousness is  not  limited  to  time,  space,  or 
place  (relative  terms  only),  but  is  cosmic,  or 
universal. 

This  power  is  not  comparable  with  what 
Occidental  Psychism  knows  as  "clairvoyance," 
or  "spirit  communication." 

The  state  of  consciousness  is  wholly  unlike 
anything  which  modern  spiritualism  reports 
in  its  phenomena.  Far  from  being  in  any 
degree  a  suspension  of  consciousness  as  is 
what  is  known  as  mediumship,  this  power 
partakes  of  the  quality  of  omniscience.  It 
harmonizes  with  and  blends  into  all  the 
various  degrees  and  qualities  of  consciousness 
in  the  cosmos,  and  becomes  "at-one"  with  the 
universal  heart-throb. 

A  Zen  student  priest  was  once  discovered 
lying  face  downward  on  the  grass  of  the  hill 
outside  the  temple;  his  limbs  were  rigid,  and 
not  a  pulse  throbbed  in  his  tense  and  immov- 
able form.  He  was  allowed  to  remain  undis- 
turbed as  long  as  he  wished.  When  at  length 
he  stood  up,  his  face  wore  an  expression  of 


The  New  Birth  25 

terrible  anguish.  It  seemed  to  have  grown 
old.  His  guru  stood  beside  him  and  gently 
asked:  "What  did  you,  my  son?" 

"O,  my  Master,"  cried  out  the  youth,  "I 
have  heard  and  felt  all  the  burdens  of  the 
world.  I  know  how  the  mother  feels  when 
she  looks  upon  her  starving  babe.  I  have 
heard  the  cry  of  the  hunted  things  in  the 
woods;  I  have  felt  the  horror  of  fear;  I  have 
borne  the  lashes  and  the  stripes  of  the  con- 
vict; I  have  entered  the  heart  of  the  outcast 
and  the  shame-stricken;  I  have  been  old  and 
unloved  and  I  have  sought  refuge  in  self- 
destruction;  I  have  lived  a  thousand  lives  of 
sorrow  and  strife  and  of  fear,  and  O,  my 
Master,  I  would  that  I  could  efface  this  an- 
guish from  the  heart  of  the  world." 

The  guru  looked  in  wonder  upon  the  young 
priest  and  he  said,  "It  is  well,  my  son.  Soon 
thou  shalt  know  that  the  burden  is  lifted." 

Great  compassion,  the  attribute  of  the  Lord 
Buddha,  was  the  key  which  opened  to  this 
young  student  priest,  the  door  of  mukti,  and 
although  his  compassion  was  not  less,  after  he 
had  entered  into  that  blissful  realization,  yet  so 
filled  did  he  become  with  a  sense  of  bliss  and 
inexpressible  realization  of  eternal  love,  that 
all  consciousness  of  sorrow  was  soon  wiped 
out. 


26  Cosmic  Consciousness 

This  condition  of  effacement  of  all  identity, 
as  it  were,  with  sorrow,  sin,  and  death,  seems 
inseparable  from  the  attainment  of  liberation, 
and  has  been  testified  to  by  all  who  have  re- 
corded their  emotions  in  reaching  this  state 
of  consciousness.  In  other  respects,  the 
acquisition  of  this  supra-consciousness  varies 
greatly  with  the  initiate. 

In  all  instances,  there  is  also  an  over- 
whelming conviction  of  the  transitory  char- 
acter of  the  external  world,  and  the  emptiness 
of  all  man-bestowed  honors  and  riches. 

A  story  is  told  of  the  Mohammedan  saint 
Fudail  Ibn  Tyad,  which  well  illustrates  this. 
The  Caliph  Harun-al-Rashid,  learning  of  the 
extreme  simplicity  and  asceticism  of  his  life 
exclaimed,  "O,  Saint,  how  great  is  thy  self- 
abnegation."  To  which  the  saint  made 
answer:  "Thine  is  greater."  "Thou  dost  but 
jest,"  said  the  Caliph  in  wonderment.  "Nay, 
not  so,  great  Caliph,"  replied  the  saint.  "I 
do  but  make  abnegation  of  this  world  which 
is  transitory,  and  thou  makest  abnegation  of 
the  next  which  will  last  forever." 

However,  the  phrase,  "self-abnegation," 
predicates  the  concept  of  sacrifice;  the  giving 
up  of  something  much  to  be  desired,  while,  as 
a  matter  of  truth,  there  arises  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  Illumined  One,  a  natural  contempt 


The  New  Birth  27 

for  the  "baubles"  of  externality;  therefore 
there  is  no  sacrifice.  Nothing  is  given  up.  On 
the  contrary,  the  gain  is  infinitely  great. 

Manikyavasayar,  one  of  the  great  Tamil 
saints  of  Southern  India,  addressed  a  gather- 
ing of  disciples  thus: 

"Why  go  about  sucking  from  each  flower, 
the  droplet  of  honey,  when  the  heavy  mass  of 
pure  and  sweet  honey  is  available?"  By  which 
he  questioned  why  they  sought  with  such 
eagerness  the  paltry  pleasures  of  this  world, 
when  the  state  of  cosmic  consciousness  might 
be  attained. 

The  thought  of  India,  is  however,  one  of 
ceaseless  repudiation  of  all  that  is  external, 
and  the  Hindu  conception  of  mukti,  or  cosmic 
consciousness,  differs  in  many  respects  from 
that  reported  by  the  Illumined  in  other  coun- 
tries, even  while  all  reports  have  many 
emotions  in  common. 

Again  we  find  that  reports  of  the  cosmic 
influx,  differ  with  the  century  in  which  the 
Illumined  one  lived.  This  may  be  accounted 
for  in  the  fact  that  an  experience  so  essen- 
tially spiritual  can  not  be  accurately  expressed 
in  terms  of  sense  consciousness. 

Far  different  from  the  Hindu  idea,  for  ex- 
ample, is  the  report  of  a  woman  who  lived  in 
Japan  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 


28  Cosmic  Consciousness 

tury.  This  woman  was  very  poor  and  ob- 
scure, making  her  frugal  living  by  braiding 
mats.  So  intense  was  her  consciousness  of 
unity  with  all  that  is,  that  on  seeing  a  flower 
growing  by  the  wayside,  she  would  "enter  into 
its  spirit,"  as  she  said,  with  an  ecstacy  of 
enjoyment,  that  would  cause  her  to  become 
momentarily  entranced. 

She  was  known  to  the  country  people 
around  her  as  Sho-Nin,  meaning  literally 
"above  man  in  consciousness." 

It  is  said  that  the  wild  animals  of  the  wood, 
were  wont  to  come  to  her  door,  and  she  talked 
to  them,  as  though  they  were  humans.  An 
injured  hare  came  limping  to  her  door  in  the 
early  morning  hours  and  "spoke"  to  her. 
Upon  which,  she  arose  and  dressed,  and 
opened  the  door  of  her  dwelling  with  words 
of  greeting,  as  she  would  use  to  a  neighbor. 

She  washed  the  soil  from  the  injured  foot, 
and  "loved"  it  back  to  wholeness,  so  that  when 
the  hare  departed  there  was  no  trace  of  injury. 

She  declared  that  she  spoke  to  and  was 
answered  by,  the  birds  and  the  flowers,  and 
the  animals,  just  as  she  was  by  persons. 

Indeed,  among  the  high  priests  of  the  Jains, 
and  the  Zens  (sects  which  may  be  classed  as 
highly  developed  Occultists),  entering  into 


The  New  Birth  29 

animal  consciousness,  is  a  power  possessed  by 
all  initiates. 

Passing  along  a  highway  near  a  Zen  temple, 
the  driver  of  a  cart  was  stopped  by  a  priest, 
who  gently  said:  "My  good  man,  with  some 
of  the  money  you  have  in  your  purse  please 
buy  your  faithful  horse  a  bucket  of  oats.  He 
tells  me  he  has  been  so  long  fed  on  rice  straw 
that  he  is  despondent." 

To  the  Occidental  mind  this  will  doubtless 
appear  to  be  the  result  of  keen  observation, 
the  priest  being  able  to  see  from  the  appear- 
ance of  the  animal  that  he  was  fed  on  straw. 
They  will  believe,  perhaps,  that  the  priest 
expressed  his  observations  in  the  manner  de- 
scribed to  more  fully  impress  the  driver,  but 
this  conclusion  will  be  erroneous.  The  priest, 
possessing  the  enlarged  or  all-inclusive  con- 
sciousness which  in  the  west  is  termed 
"cosmic,"  actually  did  speak  to  the  horse. 

Nor  is  this  fact  one  which  the  western 
mind  should  be  unable  to  follow.  Science 
proves  the  fact  of  consciousness  existing  in  the 
atoms  composing  even  what  has  been  termed 
inanimate  objects.  How  much  more  compre- 
hensible to  our  understanding  is  the  conscious- 
ness of  an  animate  organism,  even  though  this 
organism  be  not  more  complex  than  the  horse. 

There   is   a   Buddhist   monastery  built   high 


30  Cosmic  Consciousness 

on  the  cliff  overlooking  the  Japan  Inland  sea, 
which  is  called  a  "life-saving"  monastery. 

The  priests  who  preside  over  this  temple, 
possess  the  power  of  extending  their  con- 
sciousness over  many  miles  of  sea,  and  on  a 
vibration  attuned  to  a  pitch  above  the  sound 
of  wind  and  wave,  so  that  they  can  hear  a  call 
of  distress  from  fishermen  who  need  their 
help. 

This  fact  being  admitted,  might  be  account- 
ed for  by  the  uninitiated,  as  a  wonderfully 
"trained  ear,"  which  by  cultivation  and  long 
practice  detects  sounds  at  a  seemingly  mirac- 
ulous distance. 

But  the  priests  know  how  many  are  in  a 
wrecked  boat,  and  can  describe  them,  and 
"converse"  with  them,  although  the  fisher- 
men are  not  aware  that  they  have  "talked" 
to  the  priest. 

Sri  Ramakrishna  Paramahamsa,  the  latest 
incarnation  of  God  in  India,  and  the  master 
to  whom  the  late  Swami  Vivekananda  gives 
such  high  praise  and  devotion,  lived  almost 
wholly  in  that  exalted  state  of  consciousness 
which  would  appear  to  be  more  essentially 
spiritual,  than  cosmic  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
latter  word,  since  cosmic  should  certainly 
imply  all-inclusiveness,  rather  than  wholly 


The  New  Birth  31 

spiritual  (spiritual  being  here  used  as  an  ex- 
tremely high  vibration  of  the  cosmos). 

We  learn  that  Sri  Ramakrishna  was  a  man 
comparatively  unlettered,  and  yet  his  insight 
was  so  marvelous,  his  consciousness  so  ex- 
alted that  the  most  learned  pundits  honored 
and  respected  him  as  one  who  had  attained 
unto  the  goal  of  all  effort — liberation,  mukti, 
while  to  many  persons  throughout  India  to- 
day, and  indeed  throughout  the  whole  world, 
he  is  looked  upon  as  an  incarnation  of 
Krishna. 

It  is  related  of  Sri  Ramakrishna  that  his 
yearning  for  Truth  (his  mother,  he  called  it), 
was  so  great  that  he  finally  became  unfit  to 
conduct  services  in  the  temple,  and  retired 
to  a  little  wood  near  by.  Here  he  seemed  to 
be  lost  in  concentration  upon  the  one  thought, 
to  such  an  extent  that  had  it  not  been  for  de- 
voted attendants,  who  actually  put  food  into 
his  mouth,  the  sage  would  have  starved  to 
death.  He  had  so  completely  lost  all  thought 
of  himself  and  his  surroundings  that  he 
could  not  tell  when  the  day  dawned  or  when 
the  night  fell.  So  terrible  was  his  yearning 
for  the  voice  of  Truth  that  when  day  after  day 
passed  and  the  light  he  longed  for  had  not 
come  to  him  he  would  weep  in  agony. 


32  Cosmic  Consciousness 

Nor  could  any  words  or  argument  dissuade 
him  from  his  purpose. 

He  once  said  to  Swami  Vivekananda: 

"My  son,  suppose  there  is  a  bag  of  gold  in 
yonder  room,  and  a  robber  is  in  the  next  room. 
Do  you  think  that  robber  can  sleep?  He  can- 
not. His  mind  will  be  always  thinking  how  he 
can  enter  that  room  and  obtain  possession  of 
that  gold.  Do  you  think,  then,  that  a  man 
firmly  persuaded  that  there  is  a  reality  behind 
all  these  appearances,  that  there  is  a  God,  that 
there  is  One  who  never  dies,  One  who  is  In- 
finite Bliss,  a  bliss  compared  with  which  these 
pleasures  of  the  senses  are  simply  playthings, 
— can  rest  contented  without  struggling  to 
attain  it?  No,  he  will  become  mad  with 
longing." 

At  length,  after  almost  twelve  years  unceas- 
ing effort,  and  undivided  purpose  Sri  Rama- 
krishna  was  rewarded  with  what  has  been 
described  as  "a  torrent  of  spiritual  light,  delug- 
ing his  mind  and  giving  him  peace." 

This  wonderful  insight  he  displayed  in  all 
the  after  years  of  his  earthly  mission,  and  he 
not  only  attained  glimpses  of  the  cosmic  con- 
scious state,  but  he  also  retained  the  Illumina- 
tion, and  the  power  to  impart  to  a  great 
degree,  the  realization  of  that  state  of  being 
which  he  himself  possessed. 


The  New  Birth  33 

Like  the  Lord  Buddha,  this  Indian  sage  also 
describes  his  experience  as  accompanied  by 
"unbounded  light."  Speaking  of  this  strange 
and  overpowering  sense  of  being  immersed  in 
light,  Sri  Ramakrishna  described  it  thus :  "The 
living  light  to  which  the  earnest  devotee  is 
drawn  doth  not  burn.  It  is  like  the  light  com- 
ing from  a  gem,  shining  yet  soft,  cool  and 
soothing.  It  burneth  not.  It  giveth  peace 
and  joy." 

This  effect  of  great  light,  is  an  almost  in- 
variable accompaniment  of  supra-conscious- 
ness,  although  there  are  instances  of  un- 
doubted cosmic  consciousness  in  which  the 
realization  has  been  a  more  gradual  growth, 
rather  than  a  sudden  influx,  in  which  the  phe- 
nomenon of  light  is  not  greatly  marked. 

Mohammed  is  said  to  have  swooned  with 
the  "intolerable  splendor"  of  the  flood  of  white 
light  which  broke  upon  him,  after  many  days 
of  constant  prayer  and  meditation,  in  the  soli- 
tude of  the  cavern  outside  the  gates  of  Mecca. 

Similar  is  the  description  of  the  attainment 
of  cosmic  consciousness,  given  by  the  Persian 
mystics,  although  it  is  evident  that  the  Sufis 
regarded  the  result  as  reunion  with  "the  other 
half"  of  the  soul  in  exile. 

The  burden  of  their  cry  is  love,  and  "union 


34  Cosmic  Consciousness 

with  the  beloved"  is  the  longed-for  goal  of  all 
earthly  strife  and  experience. 

Whether  this  reunion  be  considered  from 
the  standpoint  of  finding  the  other  half  of  the 
perfect  one,  as  exemplified  in  the  present-day 
search  for  the  soul  mate,  or  whether  it  be 
considered  in  the  light  of  a  spiritual  merging 
into  the  One  Eternal  Absolute  is  the  question 
of  questions. 

Certainly  the  terms  used  to  express  this 
state  of  spiritual  ecstacy  are  words  which 
might  readily  be  applied  to  lovers  united  in 
marriage. 

One  thing  is  certain,  the  Sufis  did  not  per- 
sonify the  Deity,  except  symbolically,  and  the 
"beloved  one"  is  impartially  referred  to  as 
masculine  or  feminine,  even  as  modern 
thought  has  come  to  realize  God  as  Father- 
Mother. 

In  all  mystical  writings,  we  find  the 
conclusion  that  there  is  no  one  way  in  which 
the  seeker  may  find  reunion  with  The  Beloved. 

"The  ways  of  God  are  as  the  number  of  the 
souls  of  men,"  declare  the  followers  of  Islam, 
and  "for  the  love  that  thou  wouldst  find  de- 
mands the  sacrifice  of  self  to  the  end  that  the 
heart  may  be  filled  with  the  passion  to  stand 
within  the  Holy  of  Holies,  in  which  alone  the 
mysteries  of  the  True  Beloved  can  be  revealed 


The  New  Birth  35 

unto  thee,"  is  also  a  Sufi  sentiment,  although 
it  might  also  be  Christian  or  Mohammedan, 
or  Vedantan. 

Indeed,  if  the  student  of  Esotericism, 
searches  deeply  enough,  he  will  find  a  surpris- 
ing unity  of  sentiment,  and  even  of  expression, 
in  all  the  variety  of  religions  and  philosophies, 
including  Christianity. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  chief  difference  be- 
tween the  message  of  Jesus  and  those  of  the 
holy  men  of  other  races,  and  times,  lies  in  the 
fact  that  Jesus,  more  than  his  predecessors, 
emphasized  the  importance  of  love.  But  con- 
sider the  following  lines  from  Jami,  the  Per- 
sian mystic: 

"Gaze,  till  gazing  out  of  gazing 
Grew  to  BEING  HER  I  gazed  on, 
She  and  I  no  more,  but  in  one 
Undivided  Being  blended. 
All  that  is  not  One  must  ever 
Suffer  with  the  wound  of  absence; 
And  whoever  in  Love's  city 
Enters,  finds  but  room  for  one 
And  but  in  Oneness,  union." 

These  lines  express  that  religious  ecstacy 
which  results  from  spiritual  aspiration,  or  they 
express  the  union  of  the  individual  soul  with 
its  mate  according  to  the  viewpoint.  In  any 


36  Cosmic  Consciousness 

event,  they  are  an  excellent  description  of  the 
realization  of  that  much-to-be-desired  con- 
sciousness which  is  fittingly  described  in  Occi- 
dental phraseology  as  "cosmic  consciousness." 
Whether  this  realization  is  the  result  of  union 
with  the  soul's  "other  half,"  or  whether  it  is 
an  impersonal  reunion  with  the  Causeless 
Cause,  The  Absolute,  from  which  we  are  earth 
wanderers,  is  not  the  direct  purpose  of  this 
volume  to  answer,  although  the  question  will 
be  answered,  and  that  soon. 

From  whence  and  by  whom  we  are  not  pre- 
pared to  say,  but  the  "signs  and  portents" 
which  precede  the  solution  of  this  problem 
have  already  made  their  appearance. 

Christian  students  of  the  Persian  mystics, 
take  exception  to  statements  like  the  above, 
and  regard  them  as  "erotic,"  rather  than 
spiritual. 

Mahmud  Shabistari  employs  the  following 
symbolism,  but  unquestionably  seeks  to  ex- 
press the  same  emotion: 

"Go,  sweep  out  the  chamber  of  your  heart, 
Make  it  ready  to  be  the  dwelling-place  of  the 

Beloved. 

When  you  depart  out,  he  will  enter  in, 
In  you,  void  of  yourself,  will  he  display  his 

beauty." 


The  New  Birth  37 

The  "Song  of  Solom'on"  is  in  a  similar  key, 
and  whether  the  wise  king  referred  to  that 
state  of  samadhi  which  accompanies  certain 
experiences  of  cosmic  consciousness,  or 
whether  he  was  reciting  love-lyrics,  must  be 
a  moot  question. 

The  personal  note  in  the  famous  "song"  has 
been  accounted  for  by  many  commentators, 
on  the  grounds  that  Solomon  had  only  partial 
glimpses  of  the  supra-conscious  state,  and  that, 
in  other,  words,  he  frequently  "backslid"  from 
divine  contemplation,  and  allowed  his  yearn- 
ing for  the  state  of  liberation,  to  express  itself 
in  love  of  woman. 

An  attribute  of  the  possession  of  cosmic 
consciousness  is  wisdom,  and  this  Solomon  is 
said  to  have  possessed  far  beyond  his  contem- 
poraries, and  to  a  degree  incompatible  with 
his  years.  It  is  said  that  he  built  and  conse- 
crated a  "temple  for  the  Lord,"  and  that,  as 
a  result  of  his  extreme  piety  and  devotion  to 
God,  he  was  vouchsafed  a  vision  of  God. 

As  these  reports  have  come  to  us  through 
many  stages  of  church  history  and  as  Solomon 
lived  many  centuries  before  the  birth  of  Jesus, 
it  seems  hardly  fitting  to  ascribe  the  raptures 
of  Solomon  as  typifying  the  love  of  the  Church 
(the  bride)  for  Christ  (the  bridegroom). 

Rather,   it  is  easier  to  believe,    the  wisdom 


38  Cosmic  Consciousness 

of  the  king  argues  a  degree  of  consciousness 
far  beyond  that  of  the  self-conscious  man,  and 
he  rose  to  the  quality  of  spiritual  realization, 
expressing  itself  in  a  love  and  longing  for  that 
soul  communion  which  may  be  construed  as 
quite  personal,  referring  to  a  personal,  though 
doubtless  non-corporeal  union  with  his  spiritual 
complement. 

Although  the  pronoun  "he"  is  used,  signi- 
fying that  Solomon's  longing  was  what  theol- 
ogy terms  "spiritual"  and  consequently  im- 
personal, meaning  God  The  Absolute,  yet  we 
suggest  that  the  use  of  the  masculine  pronoun 
may  be  due  entirely  to  the  translators  and 
commentators  (of  whom  there  have  been 
many),  and  that,  in  their  zeal  to  reconcile  the 
song  with  the  ecclesiastical  ideas  of  spiritu- 
ality, the  gender  of  the  pronoun  has  been 
changed.  We  submit  that  the  idea  is  more 
than  possible,  and  indeed  in  view  of  the 
avowed  predilections  of  the  ancient  king  and 
sage,  it  is  highly  probable. 

He  sings: 

"Let  him  kiss  me  with  the  kisses  of  his  mouth 
For  his  love  is  better  than  wine." 

Again  he  cries: 

"Behold  thou  art  fair  my  love,  behold  thou 
art  fair,  thou  hast  dove's  eyes." 


The  New  Birth  39 

The  realization  of  mukti,  i.  e.,  the  power  of 
the  at  man  to  transcend  the  physical,  is  thus 
expressed  by  Solomon,  clearly  indicating  that 
he  had  found  liberation : 

"My  beloved  spoke  and  said  unto  me,  'Rise 
up  my  love  my  fair  one,  and  come  away.  For 
lo,  the  winter  is  passed,  the  rain  is  over  and 
gone. 

"  'The  flowers  appear  upon  the  earth ;  the 
time  of  singing  of  birds  has  come,  and  the 
voice  of  the  turtle  dove  is  heard  in  our  land. 

"  The  fig  tree  putteth  forth  her  green  figs, 
and  the  vine  with  the  tender  grapes  gives  a 
goodly  smell.  Arise  my  love,  my  fair  one, 
and  come  away.' ' 

It  is  assumed  that  these  lines  do  not  refer 
to  a  personal  hegira,  but  rather  to  the  act  of 
withdrawing  the  Self  from  the  things  of  the 
outer  life,  and  fixing  it  in  contemplation  upon 
the  larger  life,  the  supra-conscious  life,  but 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  they  may 
refer  to  a  longing  to  commune  with  the  beau- 
tiful and  tender  things  of  nature. 

Another  point  to  be  noted  is  that  in  the 
spring  and  early  summer  it  is  with  difficulty 
that  the  mind  can  be  made  to  remain  fixed 
upon  the  petty  details  of  everyday  business 
life.  The  awakening  of  the  earth  from  the 
long  cold  sleep  of  winter  is  typical  of  the 


40  Cosmic  Consciousness 

awakening  of  the  mind  from  its  hypnotisms 
of  external  consciousness. 

Instinctively,  there  arises  a  realization  of 
the  divinity  of  creative  activity,  and  the  mind 
soars  up  to  the  higher  vibrations  and  awakes 
to  the  real  purpose  of  life,  more  or  less  fully, 
according  to  individual  development. 

This  has  given  rise  to  the  assumption,  predi- 
cated by  some  writers  on  cosmic  conscious- 
ness, that  this  state  of  consciousness  is  at- 
tained in  the  early  summer  months,  and  the 
instances  cited  would  seem  to  corroborate  this 
assumption. 

But,  as  a  poet  has  sung,  "it  is  always  sum- 
mer in  the  soul,"  so  there  is  no  specific  time, 
nor  age,  in  which  individual  cosmic  conscious- 
ness may  be  attained. 

A  point  which  we  suggest,  and  which  is 
verified  by  the  apparent  connection  between 
the  spring  months,  and  the  full  realization  of 
cosmic  consciousness,  is  the  point  that  this 
phenomenon  comes  through  contemplation 
and  desire  for  love.  Whether  this  love  be  ex- 
pressed as  the  awakening  of  creative  life,  as  in 
nature's  springtime,  or  whether  it  be  ex- 
pressed as  love  of  the  lover  for  his  bride;  the 
dove  for  his  mate ;  the  mother  for  her  child,  or 
as  the  religious  devotee  for  the  Lord,  the  key 
that  unlocks  the  door  to  illumination  of  body, 


The  New  Birth  41 

/ 

soul  and  spirit,  is  Love,  "the  maker,  the  mon- 
arch and  savior  of  all,"  but  whether  this  love 
in  its  fullness  of  perfection  may  be  found  in 
that  perfect  spiritual  mating,  which  we  see 
exemplified  in  the  tender,  but  ardent  mating 
of  the  dove  (the  symbol  of  Purity  and  Peace), 
or  whether  it  means  spiritual  union  with  the 
Absolute  is  not  conclusive. 

The  mystery  of  Seraphita,  Balzac's  won- 
derful creation,  is  an  evidence  that  Balzac  had 
glimpses  of  that  perfect  union,  which 
gives  rise  to  the  experience  called  cosmic 
consciousness. 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  in  every  instance 
of  cosmic  consciousness,  the  person  expe- 
riencing this  state,  finds  it  practically  impos- 
sible to  fully  describe  the  state,  or  its  exact 
significance. 

Therefore,  when  these  efforts  have  been 
made,  we  must  expect  to  find  the  description 
colored  very  materially  by  the  habit  of  thought^ 
of  the  person  having  the  experience. y 

Balzac  was  essentially  religious,  but  he  was 
also  extremely  suggestible,  and,  until  very 
recently,  Theology  and  Religion  were  supposed 
to  be  synonymous,  or  at  least  to  walk  hand 
in  hand.  Balzac's  early  training  and  his  envi- 
ronment, as  well  as  the  thought  of  the  times  in 
which  he  lived,  were  calculated  to  inspire  in 


42  Cosmic  Consciousness 

him  the  fallacious  belief  that  God  would  have 
us  renounce  the  love  of  our  fellow  beings,  for 
love  of  Him. 

Balzac  makes  "Louis  Lambert"  renounce 
his  great  passion  for  Pauline,  and  seems  to 
suggest  that  this  renunciation  led  to  the  sub- 
sequent realization  of  cosmic  consciousness, 
which  he  unquestionably  experienced. 

Nor  is  it  possible  to  say  that  it  did  not,  since 
renunciation  of  the  lower  must  inevitably  lead 
to  the  higher,  and  we  give  up  the  lesser  only 
that  we  may  enjoy  the  greater. 

In  "Seraphita"  Balzac  expressed  what  may 
be  termed  spiritual  love  and  that  spiritual 
union  with  the  Beloved,  which  the  Sufis  be- 
lieved to  be  the  result  of  a  perfect  and  com- 
plete "mating,"  between  the  sexes,  on  the 
spiritual  plane,  regardless  of  physical  proxim- 
ity or  recognition,  but  which  is  also  elsewhere 
described  as  the  soul's  glimpse  of  its  union 
with  the  Absolute  or  God. 

The  former  view  is  individual,  while  the 
latter  is  impersonal,  and  may,  or  may  not, 
involve  absorption  of  individual  consciousness. 

In  subsequent  chapters  we  shall  again  refer 
to  Balzac's  Illumination  as  expressed  in  his 
writings,  and  will  now  take  up  the  question 
of  man's  relation  to  the  universe,  as  it  appears 
in  the  light  of  cosmic  consciousness,  or 
liberation. 


CHAPTER  II 

MAN'S    RELATION    TO    GOD    AND    TO 
HIS  FELLOW-MEN 

The  riddle  of  the  Sphinx  is  no  riddle  at  all. 
The  strange  figure,  the  lower  part  animal;  the 
upper  part  human;  and  the  sprouting-  wings 
epitomize  the  growth  and  development  of  man 
from  the  animal,  or  physical  (carnal),  con- 
sciousness to  the  soul  consciousness,  repre- 
sented by  woman's  head  and  breast,  to  the 
supra-conscious,  winged  god.  &•—-*-  ^u.,-*- 

No  higher  conception  of  life  has  ever  ema- 
nated from  any  source,  than  the  concept  of  man 
developed  to  a  state  of  perfection  represented 
by  wings  (a  symbol  of  freedom).  These  winged 
humans  are  sometimes  called  angels  and  some- 
times gods,  although  the  words  may  not  be 
synonymous. 

The  point  is,  that  no  theory  of  life  and  its  pur- 
poses seems  more  general  or  more  unescapable 
than  that  of  man's  growth  from  sin  (limita- 
tions) to  god-hood — freedom. 

Whether  this  consummation  is  brought  about 
through  an  unbroken  chain  of  upward  tenden- 
cies from  the  lowest  forms  of  life  to  the  high- 

43 


44  Cosmic  Cautiousness 

est;  or  whether  it  is  symbolized  by  the  old  the- 
ologic  idea  of  man's  fall  from  godhood  to  sin, 
the  fact  remains  that  we  know  no  other  ideal 
than  that  represented  by  perfected  man;  and  we 
know  no  lower  idea  than  that  of  man  still  in 
the  animal  stage  of  consciousness. 

Artists,  painters,  sculptors,  wishing  to  depict 
the  beauty  of  spiritual  things,  must  still  use  the 
human  idea  for  a  model — refined,  spiritualized, 
supra-human,  but  still  man. 

It  is  a  truism  that  man  epitomizes  the  uni- 
verse. Therefore,  the  law  of  growth,  which 
science  names  evolution,  may  be  studied  and 
applied  with  equal  precision  and  accuracy  to 
the  individual;  to  a  body  of  individuals  called 
a  nation;  and  to  worlds,  or  planets. 

The  evolution  of  an  individual  is  accom- 
plished when  he  has  learned  through  the 
various  avenues  of  experience,  the  fact  of  his 
own  godhood;  and  when  he  has  established 
his  union  with  that  indescribable  spiritual 
essence  which  is  called  Om ;  God;  Nirvana; 
Samadhi;  Brahm;  Kami;  Allah;  and  the 
Absolute. 

A  Japanese  term  is  Dai  Zikaku.  The  Zen 
sect  of  Japanese  Buddhists  say  Daigo  Tettei, 
and  one  who  has  attained  to  this  superior 
phase  of  consciousness  is  called  Sho-Nin, 
meaning  literally  "above  man." 


Man's  Relation  to  God  45 

Emerson,  the  great  American  seer,  ex- 
pressed this  Nameless  One,  as  The  Oversoul, 
and  Herbert  Spencer,  the  intellectual  giant  of 
England,  used  the  term  Universal  Energy. 

Emerson  was  a  seer;  Spencer  was  a  sci- 
entist, which  word,  until  recently,  was  a 
synonym  for  materialist. 

But  what  are  words? 

Mere  symbols  of  consciousness,  and  subject 
to  change  and  evolvement,  as  man's  conscious- 
ness evolves.  The  student  of  truth  will  recog- 
nize in  these  different  words,  exactly  the  same 
meaning.  The  "eternal  energy  from  which  all 
things  proceed"  is  a  phrase  identical  with  "The 
Oversoul,"  or  "The  Absolute,"  from  which  all 
manifestation  comes. 

Man's  evolution,  then,  is  an  evolution  in 
consciousness,  from  the  subjective  azvareness 
of  the  monad  to  a  realization  of  the  entire 
cosmos. 

Each  phase  of  life  is  a  specific  degree  of 
consciousness  and  each  successive  degree 
brings  the  individual  nearer  to  the  realization 
of  the  sum  of  all  degrees  of  consciousness,  into 
godhood — the  highest  degree  which  we  can 
conceive. 

Such,  briefly,  is  a  statement  of  that  phenom- 
enon which  is  attracting  the  attention  of 
occidental  students  of  psychology,  and  which 


46  Cosmic  Consciousness 

has  been  fittingly  termed  "the  attainment  of 
cosmic  consciousness." 

The  phrase  expresses  a  degree  of  conscious- 
ness which  includes  the  entire  cosmos — not 
only  this  planet  called  earth,  and  every- 
thing thereon,  but  also  the  spheres  of  the 
Constellation. 

Not  that  this  degree  of  consciousness  carries 
with  it  the  power  to  express  in  words,  that 
which  it  is.  In  fact,  the  one  who  has  had  this 
marvelous  awakening,  cannot  adequately 
describe,  or  even  retain,  a  full  comprehension 
of  what  it  signifies. 

All-inclusive  knowledge  would  indeed,  pre- 
clude the  possibility  of  expression.  Therefore, 
even  if  it  were  possible  to  retain  in  the  finite 
mind,  the  full  realization  of  cosmic  conscious- 
ness, words  could  not  be  found  in  which  to 
express  it  to  others. 

Thought  is  the  creator  of  words,  but  thought 
is  but  the  material  which  the  mind  employs, 
and  cosmic  consciousness  transcends  the  mind, 
engulfs  the  soul,  and  reaches  to  the  trackless 
areas  of  Spirit. 

It  may  be  doubted  if  any  one  may  retain  a 
full  realization  of  cosmic  consciousness,  and 
remain  in  the  physical  body. 

Great  and  wonderful  as  have  been  the  ex- 
periences of  those  who  have  sought  to  relate 


Man's  Relation  to  God  47 

their  sensations,  it  is  probable  that  these 
flashes  of  insight  have  been  in  the  nature  of 
cosmic  perception,  and  have  lacked  full 
realization. 

Of  those  who  have  had  glimpses  of  that 
larger  area  of  consciousness  which  includes 
an  awareness  of  eternal  unity  with  the  cosmos, 
there  are,  we  believe,  many  more  than 
students  of  the  subject  have  any  idea  of. 

This  century  marks  a  distinct  epoch  in  what 
is  called  evolution. 

The  end  of  a  kalpa,  or  cycle  of  manifestation,  I 
is  symbolized  by  the  presence  on  a  planet  of  j 
many  avatars,  masters,  and  angels. 

By  their  very  presence  these  enlightened 
ones  arouse  in  all  who  are  ready  for  the  ex- 
perience a  glimpse  of  that  state  of  being  to 
which  all  souls  are  destined,  and  to  which  all 
shall  ultimately  attain. 

A  time  when  "gods  shall  walk  the  earth" 
is  a  prophecy  which  all  nations  have  heard  and 
looked  forward  to. 

That  time  is  now.  We  see  the  effect  of 
their  presence  in  Peace  Conferences;  in  aboli- 
tion of  child  labor;  in  prison  reform;  in  the 
amalgamation  of  the  races;  in  attempts  at 
social  equality;  in  National  Eugenic  Societies, 
and  above  all,  as  we  have  before  stated,  in  the 
Emancipation  of  Woman.  In  fact,  it  is  seen 


48  Cosmic  Consciousness 

in  all  the  various  ways  in  which  the  higher 
consciousness  finds  expression. 

One  of  the  characteristic  signs  of  this  awak- 
ening, the  Millenium  Dawn,  as  it  has  been 
\  named,  lies  in  a  very  general  optimism  shining 
through  the  mists  of  doubt  and  unrest  and  in- 
expressible desire,  which  accompany  the  new 
birth  in  consciousness. 

Amid  the  seeming  chaos  of  present  day  con- 
ditions is  it  not  easy  to  discern  the  coming 
of  that  dawn  of  which  all  great  ones  of  earth 
have  foretold — a  time  when  "the  earth  shall 
be  made  a  fit  habitation  for  the  gods"? 

"The  heavens"  is  a  term  employed  to 
specify  the  Constellation  which  is  composed  of 
planets  and  stars,  but  we  use  the  term 
"Heaven"  also  to  mean  a  state  of  happiness 
and  bliss  attainable  through  certain  methods, 
a  consideration  of  which  we  will  take  up  later. 

The  immediate  point  is  that  this  planet  is 
being  prepared  for  a  position  in  the  solar  sys- 
tem consistent  with  that  which  is  the  abode 
of  the  gods — Heaven. 

This  proposition  is  made  in  its  literal  mean- 
ing. Corroborative  of  this  statement,  which 
is  consistent  with  all  prophecies,  is  the  infor- 
mation recently  given  to  the  world,  by  Camille 
Flammarion,  and  other  great  astronomers, 
that  "the  earth  is  changing  its  position  in  the 


Man's  Relation  to  God        ^       49 

heavens  at  an  astonishing  rate."  The  idea 
that  "there  shall  be  no  night  there,"  is  fore- 
shadowed by  the  estimate  that  this  change 
will  give  to  the  earth  a  perpetual  and  uniform 
light,  and  heat.  ^-—7  "^-~ 

The  New  Thought  preachment  of  physical 
immortality  is  but  a  faint  and  imperfect  per- 
ception of  this  time,  when  "there  shall  be  no 
death,"  because  the  animal  man,  subject  to 
change,  shall  give  place  to  the  changeless, 
deathless,  spiritual  man;  not  through  cata- 
clysms, and  destruction,  but  through  the 
natural  birth  into  a  higher  consciousness. 

The  Occidental  mind  is  easily  affrighted  by 
a  name.  Perhaps  we  should  not  specify  the 
Occidental  mind,  but  rather  the  mind  of  man 
among  all  races  is  easily  put  to  sleep  by  the 
hypnotism  of  a  word. 

The  word  Pantheism  is  a  bugaboo  to  the 
Occidentalist.  He  fears  the  destruction  of  the 
Monistic  faith,  if  he  admits  that  man  is  in 
essence  a  god,  and  that  therefore  there  are 
many  gods  in  the  one  God,  even  as  there  are 
many  members  to  the  one  physical  organism. 

Nevertheless  all  literature,  whether  sacred 
or  profane,  teaches  the  attainment  of  godhood 
by  Man.  This  can  not  mean  other  than  the 
attainment  of  realisation  of  godhood,  by  the 
individual  and  the  retention  of  this  realization 


50  Cosmic  Consciousness 

to  the  end  that  reincarnation  shall  cease  and 
identity  with  the  cosmic  principle,  be  estab- 
lished, beyond  further  loss,  or  doubt,  or  strife, 
or  death. 

This  is  what  it  means  to  attain  to  cosmic 
consciousness.  It  is  inclusive  consciousness. 
It  is  not  absorption  into  the  vast  unknown,  in 
the  sense  of  annihilation  of  identity.  It  is 
consciousness  plus,  not  minus. 

An  ancient  writing-  says: 

"And  .thou  shalt  awake  as  from  a  long 
dream.  Thou  shalt  be  like  the  perfume  aris- 
ing from  the  flower  in  which  it  has  been  so  long 
enclosed.  And  thou  wilt  float  above  the  opened 
flower.  And  thou  wilt  say  'There  is  time  be- 
fore me  in  eternity.' ' 

There  is  nothing  in  the  testimony  of  those 
who  have  described,  as  best  they  could,  their 
emotions  upon  attainment  of  this  conscious- 
ness, which  would  argue  the  absorption  of  the 
individual  soul  into  The  Absolute. 

There  is  no  testimony  to  argue  that  the 
attainment  of  cosmic  consciousness,  carries 
with  it  anything  approaching  annihilation  of 
sentiency. 

Rather  it  would  seem  to  testify  to  an  accel- 
eration of  all  the  higher  faculties. 

That  this  would  be  a  more  apt  interpretation 
may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  different  re- 


Moris  Relation  to  God  51 

ports  of  those  experiencing  the  phenomenon 
of  Illumination. 

Nevertheless  there  has  been  much  contro- 
versy regarding  the  meaning  of  the  terms  nir- 
vana; samadhi;  dai  zikaku,  etc. — words  ex- 
pressing the  condition  which  we  are  consid- 
ering under  the  phrase  cosmic  consciousness. 

WHAT  IS  NIRVANA? 

Let  us  consider  briefly,  what  is  meant  by 
Nirvana,  and  see  if  it  is  not  highly  probable 
that  the  word  describes  the  state  of  conscious- 
ness which  we  are  considering,  referring  later 
on  to  the  question,  and  its  interpretation  by 
the  various  schools  of  religion  and  philosophy. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  most  learned  sages 
of  the  Orient  fail  to  agree  as  to  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  Nirvana.  Occidental  writers  and  leaders 
of  the  Theosophical  philosophy,  differ  some- 
what as  to  its  import,  but  at  the  same  time  we 
find  enough  unity  on  this  point  to  make  it  evi- 
dent that  the  state  of  Nirvana  is  a  desir- 
able attainment — the  goal  of  the  religious 
enthusiast. 

Going  back  for  a  moment,  to  a  consideration 
of  the  earliest  recorded  religion  of  Japan,  we 
find  that  Sintoism  means  literally  "the  way  of 
the  gods,"  meaning  the  way  in  which  men  who 
have  become  god-like,  found  the  path  that  led 


52  Cosmic  Consciousness 

thereunto,  but  as  to  exactly  what  conditions 
are  represented  by  godhood,  how  indeed,  is  it 
possible  for  man  to  know,  much  less  to 
express? 

Since  we  are  conscious  of  a  divine  and  irre- 
sistible urge  toward  the  attainment  of  this 
state  of  being,  it  is  hardly  consistent  with  what 
we  know  of  merely  human  nature,  that  the  way 
lies  in  the  direction  of  loss  of  identity,  or  in 
other  words,  in  what  is  popularly  compre- 
hended as  absorption.  That  this  idea  prevails 
in  many  Oriental  sects  of  Buddhism  and  Ve- 
danta  we  are  aware,  but  we  are  confident  that 
this  idea  is  erroneous,  and  comes  from  the 
fact  that  it  is  impossible  to  describe  the  condi- 
tion of  consciousness  enjoyed  by  the  initiate 
into  Nirvana,  which  term  we  believe,  is 
identical,  or  at  least  comparable  with 
cosmic  consciousness. 

The  very  fact  that  external  life  represents 
so  universal  a  struggle  for  attainment  of  this 
state  of  being,  or  higher  consciousness,  indi- 
cates at  least,  even  if  it  does  not  actually 
guarantee  a  fuller,  deeper,  more  complete  state 
of  consciousness  than  hitherto  enjoyed,  rather 
than  an  absorption  or  annihilation  of  any  of 
that  dearly  bought  consciousness  which  dis- 
tinguishes the  self  from  its  environment,  and 
which  says  with  conviction  "I  am." 


Man's  Relation  to  God  53 

It  is  admitted  that  those  who  have  expe- 
rienced liberation,  illumination,  mukti,  have 
reported  their  sensations  with  such  relative 
vagueness  and  with  such  apparent  variance  of 
conclusion  as  regards  the  meaning  of  the  expe- 
rience that  the  reader  is  left  to  his  own  inter- 
pretation of  the  character  of  that  state  of 
being,  other  than  a  general  uniformity  of 
description. 

Referring  to  the  pleasure  which  the  lower 
nature  feels  under  certain  conditions,  the  late 
Swami  Vivekananda  says: 

"The  whole  idea  of  this  nature  is  to  make 
the  soul  know  that  it  is  entirely  separate  from 
nature  and  when  the  soul  knows  this,  nature 
has  no  more  attraction  for  it.  But  the  whole 
of  nature  vanishes  only  for  that  man  who  has 
become  free.  There  will  always  remain  an 
infinite  number  of  others  for  whom  nature 
will  go  on  working." 

But  did  Vivekananda  employ  the  phrase 
"nature  has  no  more  attraction  for  him,"  to 
describe  the  sensation  of  unappreciativeness 
of  the  wonders  of  the  natural  world?  We 
think  not.  Rather  the  gentle-hearted  sage 
meant  to  report  the  fact  that  the  soul  is  no 
longer  held  in  bondage  to  the  external  world, 
when  it  has  once  attained  supra-consciousness. 

If  this  expression  referred  to  the  pleasure  the 


54  Cosmic  Consciousness 

true  lover  of  nature  feels  in  the  out-of-doors, 
he  might  well  say  "I  trust  that  I  shall  never 
attain  to  that  state  of  consciousness.  Or  if 
attainment  be  compulsory,  then  shall  I  pro- 
long the  time  of  accomplishment  as  long  as 
possible." 

And  who  would  blame  him?  Why  should 
we  strive  for  the  attainment  of  a  state  of  be- 
ing described  so  unattractively  as  to  give  us 
the  impression  of  entire  loss  of  so  enjoyable 
and  unselfish  a  sensation  as  love  of  nature? 

The  Vedantic  idea,  according  to  interpreted 
translations  is  that  out  of  The  Absolute,  the  All 
(Om),  we  come,  and  therefore  back  to  it  we  go, 
being  now  in  our  present  state  of  conscious- 
ness, en  route,  as  it  were  to  return. 

But  returning  to  what?  That  is  the  un- 
answerable problem  of  all  religions;  all 
philosophies;  all  science.  If  we  return  to  a 
void,  such  as  some  interpreters  of  the  Vedas 
declare,  then  surely  this  urge  within  mankind 
toward  this  annihilatory  state  would  hardly 
be  expected.  It  would  be  inconsistent  with 
that  instinct  of  self-preservation  which  we  are 
told  is  the  first  law  of  nature. 

Compared  to  this  Vedantic  concept  of  the 
Absolute,  the  Christian's  simple,  and  very 
empirical  ideal  of  eternal  happiness  is 
preferable. 


Man's  Relation  to  God  55 

To  walk  streets  paved  with  gold  and  play 
a  harp  incessantly  while  chanting  doleful 
praises  to  a  Deity  who  ought  to  become 
wearied  of  the  never-ceasing  adulation,  would 
still  be  a  more  desirable  goal  of  our  strife, 
than  that  so  inaccurately  and  unattractively 
described  by  many  students  of  Oriental  reli- 
gions and  philosophies  as  the  state  nirvana, 
or  samadhi. 

Again  quoting  from  Vivekananda's  Raja 
Yoga: 

"There  are  not  wanting  persons  who  think 
that  this  manifest  state  (our  present  exist- 
ence) is  the  highest  state  of  man.  Thinkers 
of  great  calibre  are  of  the  opinion  that  we  are 
manifested  specimens  of  undifferentiated  Being, 
and  this  differentiated  state  is  higher  than  the 
Absolute. 

Although  as  Vivekananda  says  there  are 
thinkers  who  make  this  claim,  the  idea  does 
not  find  ready  acceptance  among  theologians, 
either  Eastern,  or  Western.  Neither  do  philos- 
ophers, as  a  general  thing  incline  to  adopt  this 
view.  The  reason  for  this  general  disinclina- 
tion is  not  difficult  of  discovery.  It  is  due  to 
the  present  state  of  man  on  this  planet. 

If  man,  as  we  see  and  know  mankind,  is 
the  highest  state  of  Being  (not  merely  of 


56  Cosmic  Consciousness 

manifestation,  but  of  Being)  "then,"  they  say, 
"we  have  nothing  to  hope  for." 

But  have  we  not?  May  we  not  hope  that  man 
will  manifest,  on  this  planet  a  fuller  realization, 
of  that  which  he  is  in  Being,  and  that,  far  from 
dissolving  what  consciousness  he  has,  he  will 
but  plus  this  consciousness  by  a  larger — an  all- 
embracing  consciousness  that  shall  make  earth 
a  fit  habitation  for  god-like  men  ? 

In  Vivekananda's  Raja  Yoga  we  find  the 
following : 

"There  was  an  old  solution  that  man,  after 
death,  remained  the  same;  that  all  his  good 
sides,  minus  his  evil  sides,  remained  forever. 
Logically  stated,  this  means  that  man's  goal  is 
the  world;  this  world  meaning  earth  carried 
to  a  state  higher  and  with  elimination  of  its 
evils  is  the  state  they  call  heaven.  This 
theory,  on  the  face  of  it,  is  absurd  and  puerile 
because  it  cannot  be.  There  cannot  be  good 

^ 

without  evil,  or  evil  without  good.  To  live 
in  a  world  where  there  is  all  good  and  no  evil, 
is  what  Sanskrit  logicians  call  a  'dream  in  the 
air.' " 

It  is  not  necessary  to  argue  here  that  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  positive  evil. 

St.  Paul  said:  "I  know  and  am  persuaded 
that  nothing  is  unclean  of  itself;  save  that  to 


Man's  Relation  to  God  57 

him  who  accounteth  anything  to  be  unclean, 
to  him  it  is  unclean." 

And  again  we  are  assured  that  "there  is 
nothing  good  or  bad,  but  thinking  makes  it 
so;"  which  means  that  evil  has  no  more 
foundation  in  reality  than  has  thought,  and 
thought  is  ever-changing;  transitory.  Evil 
therefore  may  be  entirely  eliminated  by 
thought,  since  it  is  created  by  thought. 

That  there  is  a  condition  of  mankind  which 
has  been  alluded  to  as  "evil"  is  self-evident. 
The  term  has  been  employed  to  describe  a 
condition  of  either  an  individual,  or  a  society, 
or  a  nation  or  a  race,  wherein  there  is  ih- 
harmony;  disease;  unhappiness.  Anything 
that  makes  for  suffering  on  any  plane  of  con- 
sciousness, may  be  termed  "evil"  as  here  used. 

Let  us  consider  for  a  moment  if  it  be  illogi- 
cal to  imagine  a  world  in  which  this  inharmony 
has  been  eliminated.  Imagine  a  family  in 
which  all  the  members  radiate  love  and  unsel- 
fish consideration.  Add  to  this,  or  we  may  say 
complementary  to  this,  we  have  perfect  health 
and  prosperity;  and  over  and  above  all  we 
have  a  conviction  of  immortality,  eliminating 
doubt  and  fear  and  worry  as  to  future  sorrows 
or  partings,  with  no  knowledge  that  there  are 
others  in  the  world  suffering. 

Do  we  not  find  it  quite  possible,  to  say  the 


58  Cosmic  Consciousness 

least,  and  even  desirable,  to  live  in  such  a 
family,  particularly  if  we  had  previously 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  that  which  is  evil  and 
that  which  is  good — merely  terms  used  to  de- 
scribe limited,  or  enlarged  consciousness. 

If  we  admit  the  desirability  of  living  in  such 
a  family,  why  not  in  such  a  world  ?  "Logically 
stated,"  says  the  Hindu  swami,  "this  means 
that  man's  goal  is  this  world  (earth  planet) ; 
carried  to  a  state  higher  and  with  the  elimina- 
tion of  its  evils,  this  world  is  the  state  (place) 
they  call  heaven." 

Again  we  must  question.     Why  not? 

This  planet  we  call  earth,  is  a  great  and 
marvelous  work,  whether  it  be  the  work  of  an 
abstract  God,  or  whether  it  be  the  work  of  the 
god  in  Man. 

And  whether  this  earth  be  the  gift  of  an 
abstract  God,  or  whether  it  be  the  generating 
bed  of  the  life  now  upon  it,  the  fact  remains 
that  we  have  no  business  to  despise  the  gift, 
or  the  work  of  self-generation.  Our  business 
is  to  enhance  its  beauties  and  eliminate  its  ugli- 
ness. Why  have  we  prayed  that  the  will  of 
God  which  is  Love,  "be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
the  heavens,"  if  we  despise  the  planet  and 
hope  to  leave  it? 

Although  the  general  impression  given  in 
all  religious  systems  is  that  the  perfected  soul 


Mail's  Relation  to  God  59 

leaves  this  earth,  yet  there  is  nothing  in  any 
of  them  to  prove  that  it  does  so,  or  if  it  has 
hitherto,  that  it  shall  continue  so  to  do.  We 
have  no  right  to  assume  that  the  outer  life — 
the  external,  manifested  life  which  we  per- 
ceive with  our  physical  senses,  is  all  there  is 
to  this  earth  and  that  when  we  leave  this 
outer  life,  we  go  to  some  other  place.  The 
invisible  life  on  this  planet  is  unquestionably 
far  greater  than  the  visible  but  both  visible  and 
invisible  doubtless  belong  to  the  planet  earth. 

The  Absolute,  presumably  occupies  all 
space,  and  therefore  it  may  as  reasonably  be 
postulated  that  this  state  of  Nirvana  or  Samadhi, 
may  be  entered  within  the  area  of  this  planet's 
vibrations,  as  in  that  of  the  other  planets. 
The  finite  mind  cannot  conceive  of  a  state  of 
being  apart  from  motion,  space  or  time,  even 
though  these  concepts  are  crude  in  their  rela- 
tion to  the  state  of  consciousness  to  which  the 
sum  of  all  consciousness  is  tending,  whether 
the  individual  would,  or  not. 

We  speak  of  "the  heavens"  when  we  refer 
to  the  immeasurable,  and  little  known  region 
of  the  solar  system,  and  we  use  the  same  term 
when  we  refer  to  a  state  of  being  in  which  the 
perfected  soul  of  man  will  finally  enter.  And 
this  term  implies  that  when  we  are  thus  in 


60  Cosmic  Consciousness 

heaven,  we  are  with  God,  if  not  absorbed  into 
God. 

Jesus,  the  master,  taught  the  coming  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth  and  urged  mankind 
to  pray  for  its  coming,  asking  that  the  will  of 
God  (or  gods)  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  the 
heavens,  from  which  it  is  not  illogical  to  infer 
that  the  earth  itself,  as  a  planet,  is  not  outside 
the  pale  of  that  blissful  state  which  we  ascribe 
to  God,  and  which,  at  the  same  time,  we  ex- 
pect to  enter  without  being  swallowed  up  in 
the  sense  that  we  lose  that  consciousness 
which  cognizes  itself  as  an  eternal  verity. 

If  then,  the  "heavens"  as  applied  to  the 
planets  revolving  above  the  earth  in  the  solar 
system,  and  "Heaven"  as  a  term  used  to  de- 
scribe a  state  of  happiness,  bliss,  samadhi, 
nirvana,  or  "life  with  God,"  be  synonymous 
it  may  reasonably  be  inferred  that  in  the  solar 
system  are  planets  upon  which  live  sentient 
beings,  in  a  state  to  which  we  on  earth,  are 
seeking  to  attain;  a  state  wherein  so-called 
evil  has  been  eliminated  and  the  good  retained. 

In  fact,  we  may  see  with  none  too  prophetic 
eyes  the  elimination  of  evil  right  here  in  the 
visible.  All  who  have  attained  a  glimpse  of 
Illumination  have  reported  the  loss  of  the 
"sense  of  sin  and  death,"  and  have  retained 


Man's  Relation  to  God  61 

this  feeling  of  security  and  "all-is-well-ness"  as 
long  as  they  have  lived  thereafter. 

From  the  old  conception  of  "evil"  as  a  posi- 
tive, opposing  and  independent  force,  modern 
thought,  in  all  its  branches,  namely  science; 
religion;  social  evolution,  and  philosophy,  has 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  evil  is  not  a 
power  or  force  in  and  of  itself,  but  that  it  is 
evidence  of  a  limited  degree  of  consciousness 
which  sees  only  one  side  of  a  subject — only  a 
limited  area  of  an  infinitely  wide  and  varied 
manifestation  of  the  one  supreme  conscious- 
ness. Therefore,  it  is,  that  evil  per  se,  does  not 
exist  as  power,  but  that  it  is  the  effect  of  a 
misapplication  of  power. 

The  cure  then,  for  this  state  of  Relativity, 
is  found  logically  enough,  in  an  extension  of 
individual  consciousness. 

That  this  idea  is  logical  may  be  deduced 
from  the  fact  that  as  the  mind  expands, 
through  the  various  channels  of  learning; 
observation;  contact  with  each  other,  and  by 
the  many  roads  of  Experience,  altruism  be- 
comes more  general.  Almost  every  one 
readily  admits  that  the  world  is  "growing  bet- 
ter," as  they  express  it. 

This  means  that  the  individual  conscious- 
ness is  becoming  broadened,  deepened,  en- 
larged; and  this  enlargement  makes  it  possible 


62  Cosmic  Consciousness 

to  show  that  the  happiness  of  each  one,  means 
the  happiness  of  all,  and  that  no  one  human 
life  can  reach  the  goal  of  freedom  and  eternal 
life  (muktij  which  can  mean  nothing  less  than 
godhood)  unless  he  does  so  by  some  one  of 
the  many  paths  of  selflessness. 

Up  through  the  perilous  paths  and  the  de- 
vious ways  of  brute  consciousness  toward  a 
more  or  less  perfect  perception  of  that  blissful 
state  which  the  Illumined  have  sought  to  de- 
scribe, each  individual  has  come  to  his  present 
state;  and  it  is  only  by  virtue  of  the  ability  to 
look  back  over  the  path,  and  to  look  onward  a 
little  into  relative  futurity,  that  each  may 
record  the  fact  of  his  gain  in  consciousness, 
and  what  this  gain  means  to  the  future  of  this 
earth. 

But  who  is  there  who  cannot  see  that  each 
step  in  attainment  of  consciousness  brings 
with  it  a  corresponding  freedom  from 
suffering? 

The  planet  itself  does  not  make  us  suffer. 
The  latest  discoveries  of  astronomers  indicate 
that  as  the  standard  of  morality  (using  the 
term  "morality"  in  its  true  sense),  becomes 
higher,  the  position  of  the  earth  itself  becomes 
changed,  in  its  relation  to  the  solar  system.  •* 

In  this  way,  it  is  expected  that  a  uniform 
temperature  will  prevail  all  over  the  earth's 

VI.  .  ^ / 

"^      '  <-+^~s-^s-      rf-Ve^—-"    tV^Lt>    &*-Ct,~        ^<-^^ 


Man's  Relation  to  God  63 

surface;  and  with  the  cessation  of  war,  and 
of  competition  (which  is  mental  warfare) 
cataclysms,  storms,  and  earthquakes  will  cease. 
When  we  come,  as  we  will,  in  succeeding 
chapters  of  this  book,  to  a  review  of  the  experi- 
ences of  those  who  have  attained  cosmic  con- 
sciousness (mukti)  we  will  find  that,  in  each  in- 
stance, there  has  come  a  realization  of  the  nothing- 
ness of  sin  and  consequent  suffering. 

The  trouble  then,  is  not  with  the  earth  as 
a  planet,  but  with  the  lack  of  consciousness  of 
earth's  inhabitants,  which  lack  makes  possible 
all  the  suffering  which  afflicts  human  life. 

Those  who  have  attained  to  the  state  of 
cosmic  consciousness  in  both  Occidental  and 
Oriental  instances  of  this  perception,  have 
reported  an  abiding  sense  of  rest  and  peace 
and  satisfaction — a  condition  which  we  asso- 
ciate with  accepted  ideals  of  heaven  as  taught 
in  Occidental  creeds  and  among  some  schools 
of  Oriental  philosophers,  and  sects  of  religious 
worship. 

There  is  a  far  greater  unity  of  idea  between 
the  Oriental  and  the  Occidental  methods  and 
systems,  as  to  the  goal  of  ultimate  attainment 
than  is  generally  believed,  or  understood. 

The  highest  expression  of  Japanese  Budd- 
hism differs  from  Hindu  Buddhism  and  from 
Vedanta,  and  the  many  other  forms  of  Hindu 


64  Cosmic  Consciousness 

philosophy  and  religion,  in  the  same  way  that 
the  Japanese,  as  a  nation,  differ  from  their 
Hindu  brothers. 

The  Japanese  emphasize,  more  than  do  the 
Hindus,  the  preservation  of  the  nation,  and  to 
this  end,  they  are  called  more  "practical" 
minded,  but  with  the  Japanese,  as  with  all 
the  Orientals,  we  find  an  intense  contempt  for 
any  one  who  would  seek  to  preserve  his  physi- 
cal existence,  or  hesitate  at  any  personal 
sacrifice. 

This  unwritten  code  has  its  origin,  as  have 
all  Oriental  traditions  and  concepts,  in  the 
teachings  of  religious  systems.  According  to 
Oriental  ethics,  the  person  is  very  low  in  the 
scale  of  consciousness,  when  he  considers  his 
physical  body  as  of  comparative  consequence, 
when  the  question  of  expediency,  or  of  the 
welfare  of  his  country,  is  in  the  balance. 

Nevertheless,  Japan  has  offered,  far  more 
than  has  India,  a  fertile  field  for  the  growth 
of  materialism,  owing  to  the  fact  that  underly- 
ing the  apparent  observance  of  and  loyalty  to, 
religious  practices,  the  Japanese  temperament 
inclines  to  a  practical  application  of  the  wis- 
dom attained  through  religious  instruction. 

Therefore  we  find  among  the  Illumined  Ones 
of  Japanese  history,  sages  who  taught  the 
attainment  of  liberation  through  paths  which 


Man's  Relation  to  God  65 

are  not  generally  accepted  by  interpreters  of 
Hinduism. 

For  example,  among  the  orthodox  Sintoists, 
(the  original  religion  of  the  Japanese,  before 
the  advent  of  Buddhism),  we  find  that  cleanli- 
ness of  mind  and  body,  was  taught  as  the 
prime  essential  to  attainment  of  unity  with 
Kami,  rather  than  contemplation,  meditation 
and  isolation,  as  with  the  Hindus. 

And  in  the  Christian  world  we  have  a  corres- 
ponding admonition  in  the  phrase  "cleanliness 
is  next  to  godliness." 

Simple  as  this  rule  of  conduct  is,  it  neverthe- 
less embodies  the  key  to  the  situation,  inas- 
much as  we  are  assured  that  "blessed  are  the 
pure  in  heart  for  they  shall  see  God." 

Again  Jesus  told  his  hearers  that  they  "must 
become  as  little  children,"  evidently  meaning 
that  they  must  possess  the  clean,  pure,  guile- 
less mind  of  a  little  child,  if  they  would  reach 
the  goal  of  liberation,  from  strife;  death  (re- 
peated incarnation)  ;  and  all  so-called  "evil." 

To  this  end  man  is  striving,  whether  by  rites 
and  ceremonies  of  religion;  by  worship;  by 
contemplation;  by  effort  and  struggle;  by  in- 
vention; by  aspiration;  by  sacrifice;  or  by 
whatever  path,  or  device,  or  system. 

What,  then  is  the  goal,  and  how  may  it  be 
attained? 


66  Cosmic  Consciousness 

Before  taking  up  this  question,  let  us  go 
back  a  little  over  the  history  of  human  life  and 
attainment,  and  trace,  briefly,  the  evolution  of 
consciousness,  from  pre-historic  man,  to  the 
highest  examples  of  human  devotion  and  wis- 
dom, of  which,  happily,  the  world  affords  not 
a  few  instances. 


CHAPTER  III 
AREAS  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS 

Consciousness  may  be  termed,  simply,  "the 
divine  spark,"  which  enters  into  every  form 
and  phase  of  manifested  life  emanating  from 
that  one  Eternal  Power  which  materialists  desig- 
nate as  "energy"  and  which  Occultists,  both  Ori- 
ental and  Occidental,  best  define  as  "Aum," 
God!  The  Absolute — The  Divine  Mind,  and  many 
other  terms. 

Consciousness,  therefore,  enters  into  every- 
thing— is  the  life  essence  of  everything. 

The  materialistic  hypothesis  formerly  pred- 
icated the  axiom  that  there  were  two  distinct 
phases  of  manifestation,  namely  organic  and 
inorganic. 

Organic  life  was  sentient,  or  conscious, 
while  inorganic  life  was  insensate — a  structure 
acted  upon  from  forces  outside  itself,  and 
dependent  upon  an  exterior  force  for  its 
action. 

Other  names  for  this  differentiation,  would 
be  "matter"  and  "spirit."  The  point  is,  that 
the  old  materialistic  philosophy  failed  to  recog- 
67 


68  Cosmic  Consciousness 

nize  the  fact  that  consciousness,  in  varying 
degrees,  characterizes  all  manifested  life. 

This  fact  every  phase  of  Oriental  philosophy 
recognized,  and  always  has  recognized.  The 
assumption  of  the  Christian  Science  devotee, 
that  there  is  anything  new  in  the  postulate 
that  "all  is  spirit,"  is  possible  only  because 
of  his  ignorance  of  Oriental  philosophy,  as 
will  be  seen  later  on  in  these  pages,  when  we 
take  up  the  relative  comparison  between  the 
Oriental  and  the  Occidental  systems  of  "salva- 
tion." 

To  resume  therefore,  we  postulate  the  fol- 
lowing recognized  axioms  of  Universal  Occult- 
ism. 

All  life  is  sentient  or  conscious. 

All  life  is  from  the  one  source,  and  there- 
fore contains  this  "divine  spark." 

All  manifestation  expresses  degrees  or 
phases  of  consciousness. 

The  degree  of  this  consciousness  fixes  the 
status  of  the  organism,  and  determines  its 
classification,  whether  it  is  organic  or  in- 
organic; simple,  or  complex. 

Every  cell,  each  separate  cell,  in  fact,  has  its 
own  consciousness — that  is  each  cell  is  a  cen- 
ter of  this  power  that  we  term  consciousness ; 
a  group  of  cells  with  this  power  focalized  to  a 
given  point,  or  center,  makes  an  organ  of  con- 


Areas  of  Consciousness  69 

sciousness,  and  so  on  up  the  scale  through 
many  many  degrees  of  complexity  of  organ- 
ism, until  we  come  to  man. 

Webster  defines  consciousness  as  "the  abil- 
ity to  know  ones  mental  operations."  But, 
we  do  not  take  this  definition  in  Occultism, 
for  the  obvious  reason,  that  it  is  not  possible 
to  state  arbitrarily  whether  'or  not,  the  cell 
"knows  its  operations,"  and  since  all  opera- 
tions are  necessarily  mental  in  the  final  analy- 
sis, we  assume  that  there  is  a  phase  of  con- 
sciousness below  that  of  cognition  of  "self," 
which  may  be  termed  "the  unconscious  con- 
sciousness," which  again  is  synonymous  with 
the  phrase  "automatic  cerebration." 

Coming  up  through  the  various  myriad  de- 
grees of  sub-conscious  life  (sub  being  here 
used  as  below  self  consciousness)  we  arrive  at 
the  stage  of  simple  consciousness  which 
characterizes  the  animal  kingdom,  remember- 
ing that  consciousness  in  the  abstract  is  not  a 
condition,  or  state  of  environment.  It  is  one 
of  the  eternal  verities.  It  is  just  as  Aum  is. 

The  attainment  of  a  wider  and  wider  area 
of  consciousness,  is  but  the  uncovering,  or  the 
attracting  to  a  central  point  or  to  an  individual 
organism  of  this  that  is.  Thus  consciousness, 
in  the  abstract,  may  say  of  itself  "before  crea- 
tion was,  I  am." 


70  Cosmic  Consciousness 

That  is  what  is  meant  when  it  is  said  that 
God  is  omnipotent,  and  omniscient. 

The  difference  between  mere  power,  or 
energy,  and  consciousness,  whether  considered 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  organic  or  the  in- 
organic kingdom,  may  be  likened  to  the  differ- 
ence between  a  blind  force,  and  a  power  that 
knows  itself. 

Consciousness  is  practically  the  great  cen- 
tral light  that  "lighteth  every  man  that  cometh 
into  the  world."  Without  consciousness, 
manifestation  would  be  darkness.  Thus  it  is 
said,  "the  light  shineth  in  darkness  and  the 
darkness  comprehendeth  it  not."  This  applies 
to  that  tiny  spark  of  divinity  in  which  con- 
sciousness exists  but  where  there  is  not  realiza- 
tion of  its  divinity. 

This  fact  is  not  applicable  to  the  inorganic, 
or  the  animal  kingdoms  alone.  Many  men 
are  not  conscious  of  the  light  that  shineth 
within  them,  save  as  there  is  an  aggregate  of 
cell  consciousness  which  recognizes  its  focal- 
lized  power  as  an  organism. 

Manifestation  then,  is  the  vehicle  (carrying 
character)  of  universal  consciousness,  and  we 
may  logically  assume  that  manifestation  is  due 
to  the  necessity  of  developing  individualized 
entities,  who  may,  through  successive  phases 


Areas  of  Consciousness  71 

of  conscious  unfoldment,  or  uncovering  of 
areas  of  Being,  become  gods. 

The  western  writers,  and  indeed,  many 
Oriental  seers  prefer  to  put  it  thus:  "become 
fit  to  dwell  with  God,  in  eternal  bliss  and 
power." 

To  dwell  with  God,  must  be  to  become  gods. 
Once  more,  we  must  remember  that  only  gods 
are  immortal.  Souls  continue  to  exist  after 
the  physical  body  has  been  discarded,  for  the 
reason  that  no  body  in  these  days,  lives  as  long 
as  its  psychic  counterpart  or  dweller.  But, 
although  the  soul  continues  to  exist  on  another 
plane  or  note  of  the  scale  of  vibration,  it  does 
not  argue  that  the  identity  shall  continue  eter- 
nally, except  in  such  instances,  as  when  the 
soul  through  numbers  of  incarnations  shall 
have  finally  accomplished  the  purpose  of  its 
pilgrimage  and  attained  to  mukti  (liberation 
from  the  law  of  change  and  death). 

Returning  to  a  consideration  of  what  may 
be  said  to  constitute  certain  specific  phases  of 
consciousness,  we  will  take  into  consideration 
the  phase  of  consciousness,  which  we  see  ex- 
pressed in  the  mineral  kingdom.  That  there 
is  a  distinct  and  separate  character  of  con- 
sciousness thus  expressed  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that  there  is  a  law  of  chemical  affinity, 
i.  c.  attraction  and  repulsion,  which  causes  dif- 


72  Cosmic  Consciousness 

fercnt  minerals  to  respond,  or  to  refuse  to 
respond,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  certain  condi- 
tions or  chemical  processes,  more  or  less  crude 
in  character. 

From  this  to  the  vegetable  kingdom  we 
assume  a  step  in  advance,  as  vegetable  life 
measured  by  complexity  and  refinement,  re- 
sponds with  a  greater  degree  of  sensitiveness 
to  the  laws  of  evolution,  as  expressed  in  culti- 
vation, selection  and  environment. 

Even  in  this  phase  of  manifestation,  we  find 
the  law  of  Being,  is  measured  by  the  perfection 
of  species.  Evolution  of  inorganic  life,  is  as 
real,  and  as  much  a  part  of  the  plan,  (or  what- 
ever name  we  choose),  as  is  organic,  and  self- 
conscious  life. 

That  which  is  less  perfect,  measured  by 
the  law  of  beauty  and  usefulness,  we  find  grad- 
ually being  exterminated.  That  the  earth,  as 
a  planet,  is  obeying  this  cosmic  law  of  evolu- 
tion from  grossness  to  refinement ;  from  crud- 
ity to  perfection;  from  the  limited  to  the  all- 
inclusive,  is  indisputable.  As  the  motor  power 
of  electricity  has  become  general,  we  find  that 
beasts  of  burden  are  fast  disappearing  from 
the  earth,  according  to  the  law  of  the  "survival 
of  the  fittest,"  this  law,  always  being  subject 
to  change.  The  "fittest"  means  that  which  is 
best  fitted  to  the  conditions  of  the  time. 


Areas  of  Consciousness  73 

Brute  force  survives  among  brutes,  in  the 
degree  that  it  is  strong  or  weak ;  coming  out 
of  that  expression  of  law  into  the  mental  areas 
of  consciousness,  we  find  that  the  mentally  fit 
survive  among  those  who  live  only  in  the  areas 
of  the  mind;  so  on,  into  the  spiritual,  we  will 
find  the  "survival  of  the  fittest"  will  be  those 
who  are  best  fitted  for  spiritual  eternity — for 
godhood. 

Coming  again,  to  our  consideration  of  the 
term  consciousness,  we  will  take  a  brief  sur- 
vey of  that  phase  of  consciousness  which  we 
see  manifested  in  the  forms  of  life  that  have 
the  power  to  move  from  their  immediate 
environment;  such  for  instance  would  include 
the  fish  in  the  sea;  insect  life;  reptiles;  the 
birds  in  the  air;  and  all  forms  of  animal  life. 

While  expressing  a  very  limited  degree  of 
consciousness,  yet  there  is  evident  a  certain 
degree  or  aggregate  of  cell  consciousness, 
which  transcends  that  of  the  mineral  and  vege- 
table life.  This  apparently  advanced  degree  of 
consciousness,  does  not,  as  we  have  stated, 
presuppose  a  nearer  approach  to  immortality, 
however,  for  the  reason  that  we  apply  the  law 
of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  to  all  manifesta- 
tion, and  that  which  is  best  fitted  for  certain 
stages  of  the  planet's  life  during  the  process 
of  evolvement,  may  be  most  unfitted  for  sue- 


74  Cosmic  Consciousness 

ceeding  stages,  and  will,  by  the  inexorable  law 
of  survival,  be  discontinued — discarded,  even 
as  the  properties  and  stage-settings  of  a  drama 
are  thrown  aside,  when  the  play  has  been 
"taken  off  the  boards." 

It  is  admitted,  therefore,  that  those  forms 
of  life  having  the  power  of  locomotion,  in- 
volve a  more  complex  degree  of  consciousness, 
than  does  that  of  the  mineral  or  vegetable. 

In  that  phase  of  life  that  we  see  possessing 
the  power  to  move,  to  change  its  immediate 
environment,  even  though  not  capable  of 
changing  its  tiabitat  we  may  perceive  the  begin- 
ning of  that  consciousness  expressed  as  "free- 
will." Here,  we  assume,  the  organism  recog- 
nizes its  self  as  distinct  from  its  environment, 
and  from  its  counterparts,  etc.,  but  this  recog- 
nition has  not  sufficient  consciousness  to  assert 
that  recognition,  and  so  we  say  that  there  is  no 
^//-consciousness.  There  is  what  occultists 
have  agreed  to  call  simple  consciousness,  but 
this  does  not  include  a  realization  of  identity, 
as  apart  from  environment.  This  may  be  bet- 
ter understood  if  we  separate  these  degrees  or 
phases  of  consciousness  into  groups,  applicable 
to  the  human  organism,  leaving,  for  a  time  the 
consideration  of  whether  or  not  some  human 
specimens  are  higher  in  the  scales  than  are 
some  animals. 


Areas  of  Consciousness  75 

Physical,  or  sense  consciousness,  is  shared 
alike  by  man  and  the  animals. 

Beyond  this  phase  of  consciousness  we  may 
classify  the  human  species  in  the  following 
terms: 

Physical  self-consciousness. 

Mental  self-consciousness. 

Soul  (individual)  "I"  consciousness. 

Spiritual  self-consciousness. 

Physical  self-consciousness  is  that  phase  of 
self-recognition  which  knows  itself  as  a  body 
distinct  from  its  neighbors;  from  its  natural 
environment.  This  awareness  of  the  self  it  is 
that  actuated  pre-historic  man  when  he  mani- 
fested the  blind  force  that  is  sometimes  called 
"self-preservation,"  which  force  has  errone- 
ously been  termed  "the  first  law  of  nature." 

Preservation  of  this  physical  self  is  the  most 
"primitive"  law  of  nature,  but  not  "first"  in 
the  sense  that  it  is  the  most  important,  or  the 
strongest. 

The  world's  long  list  of  heroes  refutes  this 
idea.  The  pre-historic  species  of  human,  then, 
in  common  with  his  brother,  the  animal, 
sought  to  preserve  this  physical  self,  because 
he  felt  that  this  physical  self,  his  body,  was  all 
there  was  of  him,  and  he  wished  to  preserve 
it,  even  as  the  wise  man  of  today,  sacrifices 
everything  to  the  preservation  of  the  moral 


76  Cosmic  Consciousness 

and  spiritual  Self  which  he  realizes  is  the  real 
of  him. 

To  this  end,  he  cultivated  physical  force, 
sufficient  to  overcome  his  environment;  and 
as  he  developed  a  little  of  that  consciousness 
which  we  term  mental  (using  the  term  merely 
as  a  part  of  the  physical  organism  called  the 
brain),  he  realized  that  co-operation  would 
greatly  enhance  his  chances  for  self-preserva- 
tion, and  therefore,  this  mental  consciousness 
impelled  him  to  annex  to  his  forces  other 
physical  organisms  so  that  their  united 
strength  might  preserve  each  other. 

This  side  of  the  story  of  man's  evolution  in 
consciousness  is  not  however  a  part  of  our 
present  work,  and  we  will  therefore  leave  it, 
for  a  brief  consideration  of  the  successive  steps 
in  attainment  of  consciousness,  leading 
through  devious  paths,  and  through  millions 
of  relative  time  called  years,  into  the  present 
state  of  man's  consciousness  which  in  so  many 
instances  presages  the  oncoming  of  that  state, 
called  liberation,  or  illumination — mukti. 

Through  mental  self-consciousness  the  way 
has  been  long  and  arduous.  There  are  many, 
many  degrees  of  this  phase  of  consciousness, 
and  to  this  phase  we  owe  what  is  called  our 
present  civilization. 

The  true  occultist,  whether  viewing  mani- 


Areas  of  Consciousness  77 

festation  from  the  standpoint  of  Oriental  or 
of  Occidental  ideals,  realizes  that  everything 
is  right  which  makes  for  human  betterment, 
and  that  dharma  (right-action)  consists  in  act- 
ing in  accordance  with  the  highest  motive  of 
which  one's  consciousness  is  capable. 

That  our  present  civilization  is  most  un- 
civilized in  many  respects,  will  be  admitted  by 
all  whose  range  of  consciousness  has  touched 
in  any  degree,  the  infinite  areas  of  wisdom 
expressed  in  altruistic  action. 

But,  though  the  path  be  long,  and  thorny, 
the  cycle  is  closing,  and  many  have  reached 
the  goal  through  its  zigzag  course. 

But,  underlying,  as  it  were,  and  upholding 
and  uplifting  the  expression  of  sense  con- 
sciousness in  which  so  many  persons  seem  lost 
today,  there  are  evidences  of  a  consciousness 
which  observes  the  effects,  of  this  tremendous 
mental  activity,  and  knows  itself  as  something 
apart  from,  and  superior  to  this  manifestation. 

This,  we  define  as  soul — individualized  ex- 
pression of  the  spiritual  consciousness — the 
central  light,  which  as  we  previously  quoted, 
"lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world." 

Many  there  are  who  merely  perceive  this. 
To  them  there  is  a  vague  and  indefinable 
something  which  seems  to  realize  that  the 


78  Cosmic  Consciousness 

operations  of  the  mind  are  something 
phenomenal  and  apart  from  the  real  Self. 

Psychology,  even  so  empirical  a  psychology 
as  is  possible  of  demonstration  in  western 
schools  and  colleges,  evidences  the  fact  that 
there  is  a  far  greater  field  of  mental  operation 
than  is  covered  by  the  outer,  or  mental  con- 
sciousness. 

The  outer,  or  objective  action  of  the  mind, 
considers  but  one  subject,  one  question,  one 
problem  at  a  time.  Many  varied  phases  of  this 
problem  may  present  themselves,  but  the  men- 
tal forces  are  focalized  upon  one  subject  at  a 
time.  And  yet  to  state  that  but  one  idea, 
thought-concept,  or  desire,  can  enter  the  mind 
at  a  time,  is  not  a  safe  assumption. 

After  many  centuries  of  material  strife,  with 
the  object  of  satisfying  the  demands  of 
human  life,  the  conviction  is  forcing  itself 
upon  people  in  all  walks  of  life,  that  wealth, 
ambition,  power  and  possessions,  do  not  give 
us  the  answer  to  the  eternal  unescapable  and 
insistent  question  of  the  way  to  happiness. 

This  means  that  there  is  awakening  in  the 
human  race  more  generally  than  at  any  other 
time  in  recorded  history,  a  realization  that  the 
human  organism  is  not  merely  a  physical 
aggregate  of  cells,  nor  yet  that  it  is  mind 
individualized  and  in  operation  for  the  purpose 


Areas  of  Consciousness  79 

of  exercising  new  powers.  The  fact  is  becom- 
ing apparent  that  all  discovery  is  but  an  un- 
covering of  those  vast  areas  of  consciousness 
which  are  limitless;  and  which  include  not 
only  all  life  on  this  planet,  but  all  life  in  the 
Cosmos.  In  short,  cosmic  consciousness  is 
becoming  perceived,  by  a  vast  majority,  and  is 
being  realized  by  not  a  few. 

But  in  the  immediate  future  of  the  race,  we 
find  the  next  step,  for  the  majority  to  be  that 
of  soul-consciousness. 

Back  of  thought,  like  a  guardian  angel 
stands  the  desire  of  the  soul,  stimulating  and 
directing;  back  of  action  stands  thought,  as 
the  master  directs  the  servant,  or  as  the  cap- 
tain decides  the  course  of  the  ship. 

Spiritual  evolution  may  be  understood,  or 
at  least  perceived,  from  a  study  of  physical  and 
mental  evolution.  From  the  crude  to  the  per- 
fect is  the  law ;  if  this  perfection  of  species,  or 
of  phases,  could  be  attained  without  pain,  it 
were  well.  Pain  comes  from  lack  of  wisdom 
to  realize  that  out  of  the  lower  the  higher 
inevitably  springs,  as  the  butterfly  springs 
from  the  cocoon;  as  the  flower  springs  from 
the  seed;  "as  above  so  below"  is  a  translation 
of  an  old  Sinto  saying,  which  also  bids  us 
"trust  in  Kami  and  keep  clean." 

Again  it  is  said  "to  him  who  overcometb', 


So  Cosmic  Consciousness 

will  I  give  the  inheritance."  Overcoming  may 
be  variously  interpreted.  In  the  past,  it  has 
been  presented  to  the  initiate,  as  sacrifice.  If 
so  it  be,  then  is  it  because  of  lack  of  that  wis- 
dom which  knows  that  there  is  no  sacrifice 
in  exchanging  the  physical  for  the  spiritual — 
the  ephemeral  for  the  abiding. 

Says  the  ancient  manuscripts : 

"The  body  is  purified  by  water,  the  mind  by 
truth,  the  soul  by  knowledge  and  austerity,  the 
reason  by  wisdom." 

But  as  the  groping,  undeveloped  soul 
struggles  for  consciousness,  it  reaches  out  for 
the  gratification  of  mental  desires.  The  soul 
is  moved  by  desire  for  perfect  happiness.  The 
mind  seeks  to  satisfy  this  craving  for  happi- 
ness in  increased  activities;  in  accumulation; 
in  so-called  pleasure,  i.  e.  always  looking  out- 
side— thinking  outside,  living  in  the  outside — 
the  maya.  But  the  soul  has  but  one  answer  to 
this  quest  for  happiness.  It  is  love,  because 
only  love  and  wisdom  give  immortality — 
which  is  self-preservation  in  the  true  sense. 

It  is  written  in  the  Shruti:  "Brahman  is  wis- 
dom and  bliss." 

No  higher  text  can  be  given  the  disciple. 

Wisdom  comes  from  reflection  upon  the 
results  of  Experience,  in  the  search  for  happiness. 

When  the  mind  has  sounded  the  depths  of 


Areas  of  Consciousness  81 

its  resources,  and  the  urge  forward  can  not 
be  appeased,  when  the  voice  of  the  inner  seif 
— the  soul,  cannot  be  silenced;  the  disciple 
pauses  to  ask  the  way.  He  wants  to  know 
what  it  is  all  about,  and  why  it  is  that  all  he 
has  so  striven  and  struggled  for  fails  to  satisfy. 
He  wants  to  know  how  to  avoid  pain;  and 
how  to  find  the  most  direct  road  to  that  satis- 
faction which  endures ;  and  which  is  not 
synonymous  with  the  so-called  "pleasures"  of 
the  senses. 

When  this  stage  of  development  has  been 
reached,  the  disciple  is  ready  for  another  phase 
of  Experience  which  shall  extend  his  conscious- 
ness into  those  areas  of  knowledge,  in  which 
the  Real  is  distinguishable  from  the  Illusory. 
Experience  will  then  teach  him  that  only  Love 
is  real. 

That  which  is  for  the  permanent  good  of  all, 
as  opposed  to  that  which  is  transitory  and 
only  seemingly  satisfying  to  the  few,  may  be 
said  to  constitute  the  perception  of  the  Real, 
and  the  avoidance  of  Illusion. 

To  exchange  a  present  seeming  advantage 
to  the  physical  environment,  for  a  future  and 
permanent  satisfaction  of  the  soul  is  the  prero- 
gative of  the  wise — the  soul  that  has  discov- 
ered itself  and  its  mission. 

In  all  organisms  below  the  scale  of  the  hu- 


82  Cosmic  Consciousness 

man,  there  is  a  constant  growth  in  complexity 
of  organism,  with  specialization  of  functions. 

When  we  come  to  this  last-mentioned  stage 
of  human  development,  we  find  that  there  is 
no  more  specialization  in  the  way  of  develop- 
ment of  the  physical  functions.  Instead,  there 
is  a  determined  effort  at  perfecting  the  higher 
functions,  through  the  gradations  of  conscious- 
ness, until  the  spiritual  consciousness  of  the 
individual  entity  has  been  awakened. 

Then,  indeed,  has  been  awakened  the  "di- 
vine man"  and  the  path  to  immortality  is 
henceforth  comparatively  short,  although  by 
no  means  strewn  with  roses,  judged  from  the 
limited  standard  of  Relativity. 

A  man's  karma  simply  and  mathematically, 
proves  the  direction  of  his  former  desires. 
Karma  does  not  punish  or  reward,  as  is  fre- 
quently imagined. 

The  general  impression  that  one  is  reaping 
"good  or  bad  karma"  according  as  his  life  is 
one  of  pleasure  or  of  pain,  is  not  the  solution 
of  the  problem  of  karma,  and  has  no  relation 
to  the  law  of  karmic  action. 

If  a  soul  has  in  a  previous  life  outgrown  or 
outworn  that  evolutionary  phase  of  develop- 
ment, in  which  the  mind  seeks  temporary 
pleasures,  and  has  come  to  the  place  where  he 
wants  to  distinguish  the  Real  from  the  Illusory, 


Areas  of  Consciousness  83 

his  karma,  in  compliance  with  the  law  of  de- 
sire, will  bring  him  in  relation  to  those  condi- 
tions which  will  teach  him  to  know  the  Real 
from  the  Illusory,  and  in  those  conditions  he 
will  experience  pain  because  he  will,  if  he  re- 
main in  the  activities  of  the  world,  be  acting 
contrary  to  the  ideas  of  the  average. 

Thus,  to  the  onlooker,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  general  misinterpretation  of  the  law 
of  karma,  he  will  be  thought  to  have  reaped 
a  "bad"  karma,  while  as  a  matter  of  reality, 
he  will  be  making  very  rapid  strides  on  the 
path  to  godhood.  Said  a  famous  Japanese 
high  priest: 

"Desire  is  the  bird  that  carries  the  soul  to 
the  object  in  which  his  mind  is  immersed,  and 
thus  his  future  actions  are  the  result." 

This  means  that  by  the  law  of  desire,  acting 
in  accordance  with  the  evolutionary  pilgrim- 
age of  the  soul,  the  karma  is  produced.  The 
American  poet,  Lowell,  says:  "No  man  is 
born  into  the  world  whose  work  is  not  born 
with  him."  However,  whether  or  not  this  ap- 
plies to  man  in  the  first  stages  of  his  upward 
climb  to  the  goal  of  attainment  of  conscious 
godhood,  it  most  assuredly  applies  to  those 
souls  who  have  become  aware  of  their  pur- 
pose, and  who  have  made  a  conscious  choice 


84  Cosmic  Consciousness 

of  their  karma.  And  of  this  class  of  souls,  the 
world  today  has  a  goodly  number. 

The  end  of  a  kalpa  finds  many  avatars,  and 
angels  on  earth,  and  however  obscured  the 
mind  of  these  may  become  in  the  fog  of  Illu- 
sion, the  inner  light  guides  them  through  its 
mists  to  the  safe  accomplishment  of  their 
mission. 

There  is  a  story  of  a  Buddhist  priest,  who 
when  dying,  was  comforted  by  his  loving  dis- 
ciples with  the  reminder  that  he  was  at  last 
entering  upon  a  state  of  bliss  and  rest.  To 
which  the  earnest  one  replied: 

"Never  so  long  as  there  is  misery  to  be 
assuaged,  shall  I  enter  Nirvana.  I  shall  be 
reborn  where  the  need  is  greatest.  I  shall 
wish  to  be  reborn  in  the  nethermost  depths  of 
hell,  because  that  is  the  place  that  most  needs 
enlightenment;  that  is  the  place  to  point  out 
the  path  to  deliverance;  that  is  the  place 
where  the  light  will  shine  most  brightly." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  we  may  not  readily  de- 
termine what  is  "good"  and  what  is  "bad" 
karma,  by  judging  from  external  conditions. 

As  we  are  told  that  we  may  entertain  "an- 
gels unawares,"  so  we  may  pass  the  world's 
avatars  upon  the  street,  and  judging  from  the 
external,  the  physical  environment,  we  may 


Areas  of  Consciousness  85 

not  know  them  from  the  vampire  souls  that 
contact  them. 

The  point  of  our  present  consideration  is 
that  this  "year  of  grace,"  meaning  not  the 
mere  twelve  months  of  the  calendar  year,  but 
the  century,  is  the  end  of  the  present  kalpa 
(cycle),  and  demonstrates  that  period  of  evo- 
lution has  terminated,  and  the  era  is  at  hand 
when  spiritual  alchemy  shall  transform  the  old 
into  the  new,  and  that  the  desire,  which  has 
so  long  ministered  to  the  wants  of  the  phys- 
ical body,  shall  be  turned  (converted)  into  the 
channels  that  lead  to  spiritual  consciousness. 

The  undefined,  instinctive  urge  that  has 
actuated  so  many  intrepid  souls,  is  becoming 
recognized  for  what  it  is — the  awakening  of 
the  inner  Self;  the  blind  groping  in  the  dark 
will  cease  and  there  shall  arise  a  race  of  human 
beings  liberated;  free;  aware  of  their  spiritual 
origin  and  their  inherent  divinity. 

All  who  have  conformed  their  life  activities 
to  the  divine  law  of  action,  which  may  be 
tersely  stated  as  "Not  mine,  but  thine,  dear 
brother,"  will  have  achieved  the  goal  of  the 
soul's  purpose — will  have  found  Nirvana. 


CHAPTER  IV 
SELF-NESS  AND  SELFLESSNESS 

During  what  is  historically  known  as  the 
Dark  Ages,  the  esoteric  meaning  of  religious 
practices  became  obscured.  This  is  true  no 
less,  and  no  more,  of  Oriental  countries,  than 
of  European.  The  long  night  through  which 
the  earth  passed  during  that  time  and  since, 
but  foreshadowed  a  coming  dawn.  In  the 
still  very  imperfect  light  of  the  dawning  day, 
truth  is  seen  but  dimly,  and  its  rays  appear 
distorted,  whereas,  when  seen  with  the  "pure 
and  spotless  eye"  they  are  straight  and  clear 
and  simple. 

Indeed,  the  very  simplicity  of  Truth  causes 
her  to  pass  unnoticed. 

While  to  the  superficial  observer;  the 
student  who  is  mentally  eager  but  who  lacks 
the  wonderful  penetrating  power  of  spiritual 
insight,  there  seems  to  be  a  great  complexity 
in  Oriental  philosophy,  the  fact  is,  that  the 
entire  aggregation  of  systems  is  simple  enough 
when  we  have  the  key. 

One  of  the  stumbling  blocks;  the  inexplic- 
able enigma  to  many  Occidental  students,  is 

86 


Self-ness  and  Selflessness  87 

the  problem  of  the  preservation,  of  the  Self, 
and  the  constant  admonition  to  become  self- 
less. The  two  appear  paradoxical. 

How  may  the  Self  acquire  consciousness  and 
yet  become  selfless? 

Throughout  the  Oriental  teachings,  no  mat- 
ter which  of  the  many  systems  we  study,  we 
find  the  oft-repeated  declaration  that  libera- 
tion can  never  be  accomplished  and  Nirvana 
reached,  by  him  "who  holds  to  the  idea  of 
self." 

It  is  this  universally  recognized  aphorism 
which  has  given  rise  to  the  erroneous  concep- 
tion of  Nirvana  as  absorption  of  all  identity. 

Hakuin  Daisi,  the  St.  Paul  of  Japanese 
Buddhism,  cautioned  his  disciples  that  they 
must  "absorb  the  self  into  the  whole,  the 
cosmos,  if  they  would  never  die,"  and  Jesus 
assured  his  hearers  that  "he  who  loses  his  life 
for  my  sake  shall  find  it." 

Christians  have  taken  this  simple  statement 
to  mean  that  he  who  endured  persecution  and 
death  because  of  his  espousal  of  Christianity, 
would  be  rewarded  in  the  way  that  a  king 
bestows  lands  and  titles,  for  defense  of  his 
person  and  throne. 

This  is  the  limited  viewpoint  of  the  personal 
self;  it  is  far  from  being  consistent  with  the 
wisdom  of  the  Illumined  Master. 


88  Cosmic  Consciousness 

He  who  has  sufficient  spiritual  conscious- 
ness to  desire  the  welfare  of  all,  even  though 
his  own  life  and  his  own  possessions  were  the 
price  therefor,  can  not  lose  his  life.  Such  a 
one  is  fit  for  immortality  and  his  godhood  is 
claimed  by  the  very  act  of  renunciation — not 
as  a  reward  bestowed  for  such  renunciation. 

By  the  very  act  of  willingness  to  lose  the 
self  we  find  the  Self.  Not  the  self  of  exter- 
nality. Not  the  self  that  says  "I  am  a  white 
man ;  or  a  black  man ;  or  a  yellow  man ;  or  a 
red  man."  That  says  "I  am  John  Smith" — or 
any  other  name.  The  awareness  of  this  kind 
of  selfhood,  this  personal  self,  is  like  looking 
at  one's  reflection  in  the  mirror  and  saying, 
"Ah,  I  have  on  a  becoming  attire,"  or  "my 
face  looks  sickly  today."  It  is  the  same  "I" 
that  looked  yesterday  and  found  the  face  look- 
ing excellently  well,  so  that  there  must  have 
been  consciousness  behind  the  observation, 
that  could  take  cognizance  of  the  difference  in 
appearance  of  yesterday's  reflection  and  that 
which  met  that  cognizing  eye  today. 

Eagerness  to  retain  consciousness  of  the 
personal  self  blocks  the  way  of  Illumination 
which  uncovers  the  real,  the  greater,  the 
higher  Self — the  atman. 

This  constant  adjuration  to  sink  the  self 
into  The  Absolute,  is  what  has  given  rise  to  so 


Self-ness  and  Selflessness  89 

much  difference  of  interpretation  as  to  the 
meaning  of  mukti,  liberation.  It  sounds  par- 
adoxical to  state  that  it  is  only  by  giving  up 
all  consciousness  of  self,  that  immortal  Self- 
hood is  gained. 

Thus  has  arisen  all  the  confusion  as  to  the 
meaning  of  "absorption  into  a  state  of  bliss." 
How  may  the  Self  realize  a  state  of  selflessness 
and  yet  not  be  lost  in  a  sea  of  unconsciousness  ? 

Only  one  who  is  capable  of  self-sacrifice 
were  he  called  upon,  can  correctly  answer  this 
question,  and  by  what  may  be  termed  the 
very  law  of  equation,  the  sacrifice  becomes 
impossible. 

Should  any  one  seek  to  bargain  with  him- 
self to  pay  the  price  of  loss  of  self,  so  that  he 
might  gain  the  higher,  fuller  life,  his  sacrifice 
would  be  in  vain  because  it  would  not  be  self- 
lessness, but  selfishness — there  could  be  no 
sacrifice,  were  it  a  bargain. 

Let  no  one  think  that  this  unchanging  law 
of  the  Cosmos  is  in  the  nature  of  either  reward 
or  punishment,  or  that  it  was  devised  by  the 
gods,  as  a  method  of  initiation — a  test  of  fit- 
ness for  Nirvana.  Even  though  the  test  be 
applied  by  the  gods,  it  is  not  of  their  planning. 

It  is,  just  as  the  absolute  is,  and  analysis  of 
the  way  and  wherefrom  is  not  possible  of 
contemplation. 


90  Cosmic  Consciousness 

If  it  sometimes  appears  that  Illumined  Ones 
have  seemed  to  infer  a  loss  of  identity  of  the 
Self,  it  should  be  remembered  that  not  only 
have  these  reported  instances  of  liberation 
(cosmic  consciousness  attained),  been  vague, 
but  they  have  necessarily  suffered  from  the 
impossibility  of  describing  that  which  is  in- 
describable. We  should  also  remember  that 
translators  employ  the  words  in  the  English 
language  which  most  nearly  express  their  in- 
terpretation of  the  original  meaning. 

Words  are  at  best  but  clumsy  symbols. 

Perfect  bliss  is  voiceless — inexpressible. 

This  does  not,  however,  mean  that  perfect 
bliss  is  nothingness.  Rather  is  it  everything- 
ness,  in  that  it  is  all-embracing  in  its  realiza- 
tion. In  complete  realization  of  the  Cosmos 
nothing  is  excluded.  Exclusiveness  is  a  con- 
comitant of  the  state  of  consciousness 
pertinent  to  the  personal  self,  which  state  is 
not  excluded  from  the  consciousness  described 
as  cosmic,  nimana  or  mukti,  but  on  the  con- 
trary, is  included  in  it,  even  as  the  simple 
vibrations  of  the  musical  scale  are  in- 
cluded in  the  great  harmonies  of  Wagner's 
compositions. 

"He  who  has  realized  Brahman  becomes 
silent,"  says  Ramakrishna.  "Discussions  and 
argumentations  exist  so  long  as  the  realization 


Self -ness  and  Selflessness  91 

of  The  Absolute  does  not  come.  If  you  melt 
butter  in  a  pan  over  a  fire,  how  long  does  it 
make  a  noise?  So  long  as  there  is  water  in  it. 
When  the  water  is  evaporated  it  ceases  to 
make  further  noise.  The  soul  of  the  seeker 
after  Brahman  may  be  compared  to  fresh  but- 
ter. Discussions  and  argumentations  of  a 
seeker  are  like  the  noise  caused  during  the 
process  of  purification  by  the  fire  of  knowl- 
edge. As  the  water  of  egotism  and  world- 
liness  is  evaporated  and  the  soul  becomes 
purer,  all  noise  of  debates  and  discussions 
ceases  and  absolute  silence  reigns  in  the  state 
of  samadhi." 

A  better  translation  of  the  word  "noise" 
would  be  "sputtering." 

Sound  is  not  necessarily  noise.  The  idea 
conveyed  is  not  intended  to  be  a  condition  in 
which  the  soul  becomes  anaesthetized  as  it  were, 
but  a  state  of  knowing,  and  the  effort  and 
the  sputtering  of  questioning  and  searching  is 
passed. 

The  same  gospel  better  expresses  the  mean- 
ing thus: 

"The  bee  buzzes  so  long  as  it  is  outside  the 
lotus,  and  does  not  settle  down  in  its  heart  to 
drink  of  the  honey.  As  soon  as  it  tastes  of  the 
honey  all  buzzing  is  at  an  end.  Similarly  all 
noise  of  discussion  ceases  when  the  soul  of 


92  Cosmic  Consciousness 

the  neophyte  begins  to  drink  the  nectar  of 
Divine  Love,  at  the  lotus  feet  of  the  Blissful 
One." 

Who  will  not  say  that  the  bee  is  more  sat- 
isfied when  he  has  found  and  drank  of  the 
honey  than  when  he  is  buzzingly  seeking  it? 

Surely  it  is  not  necessary  to  be  of  one  mind, 
in  order  that  we  may  be  of  one  heart.  Even 
though  we  were  as  "like  as  two  peas  in  a  pod," 
it  is  well  to  note  that  the  two  peas  are  two 
spheres — nature  has  made  them  separate  and 
distinct  despite  their  close  resemblance. 

To  unite  with  the  absolute  should  cor- 
respond to  this  unity  of  all  hearts  in  the  desire 
for  a  common  effort  to  establish  harmony, 
while  we  permit  to  each  individual  the  freedom 
of  mind;  of  taste;  of  choice  of  pursuits;  of 
choice  of  pleasure;  of  discrimination;  and 
preservation  of  identity. 

Our  contention  is  that  mukti,  or  libera- 
tion (which  we  believe  to  be  identical  with 
attainment  of  cosmic  consciousness)  does  not 
mean  an  absorption  into  the  Universal,  the 
Absolute,  Brahm,  to  the  extent  of  annihilation 
of  identity.  And  we  claim  that  this  view  finds 
corroboration  in  the  best  interpretation  of 
Oriental  philosophies  and  religions,  as  well  as 
in  the  Christian  doctrine. 

Says  Nagasena,  the  Buddhist  sage: 


Self-ness  and  Selflessness  93 

"He  who  is  not  free  from  passion  experi- 
ences both  the  taste  of  food,  and  also  the 
passion  due  to  that  taste;  while  he  who  is  free 
from  passion  experiences  the  taste  of  food  but 
no  passion." 

Hence  we  discover  that  the  state  of  Illumi- 
nation, samadhi,  or  mukti,  according  to  the 
most  enlightened  and  logical  interpretation, 
means  a  calm  and  peaceful  consciousness,  un- 
disturbed by  passion.  But  we  should  not 
interpret  the  word  "passion"  as  here  used,  to 
mean  absence  of  all  sensation,  feeling  or 
knowledge. 

There  is  absolutely  no  arbitrary  interpreta- 
tion or  translation  of  the  words  of  Buddha, 
nor  can  there  be.  The  same  is  true  of  Con- 
fucius; of  Mohammed;  of  Krishna;  of  Laotze; 
of  Jesus ;  of  all  the  teachers  and  philosophers 
of  the  world. 

Who  of  you  who  read  these  words  has  not 
listened  to  debates  and  endless  discussions 
as  to  what  even  so  modern  a  writer  as 
Emerson  or  Whitman,  or  Nietzche  or  Kobo 
Daisi,  or  some  other,  may  have  meant  by 
certain  statements? 

In  the  Samyutta  Nikaya  we  read : 

"Let  a  man  who  holds  the  Self  dear,  keep 
that  Self  free  from  wickedness." 

This  does  not  imply  annihilation  of  identity, 


94  Cosmic  Consciousness 

absorption  of  consciousness,  although  it  has 
been  so  interpreted  by  many  students.  On  the 
contrary,  instead  of  losing  consciousness  of 
the  Self  (which  is  not  merely  the  personality), 
we  find  the  Real  Self. 

As  an  adult  we  realize  more  consciousness 
than  we  do  as  infants.  Not  that  we  possess 
more  consciousness.  We  cannot  acquire  con- 
sciousness as  we  accumulate  things.  We  can 
net  add  one  iota  to  the  sum  of  consciousness, 
but  we  can  and  do  uncover  portion  upon  por- 
tion of  the  vast  area  of  consciousness  which  is. 

Says  the  Dhammapada: 

"As  kinsmen,  friends  and  lovers  salute  a 
man  who  has  been  long  away  and  returns  safe 
from  afar;  in  like  manner  his  good  deeds  re- 
ceive him  who  has  done  good,  and  who  has 
gone  from  this  world  to  the  other,  as  kinsmen 
receive  a  friend  on  his  return." 

If  this  state  of  mukti  were  annihilation  of 
individual  consciousnesss  it  would  hardly  be 
an  incentive  to  do  good  deeds,  except  that 
good  deeds  in  themselves  bring  happiness,  but 
if  the  bringing  of  happiness  did  not  also  bring 
with  it  a  larger  consciousness,  it  would  not  be 
true  happiness,  but  merely  a  condition,  and 
conditions  are  always  subject  to  change. 

"It  is  not  separateness  you  should  hope  and 
long  for;  it  is  union — the  sense  of  oneness 


Self-ness  and  Selflessness  95 

with  all  that  is,  that  has  ever  been  and  that 
can  ever  be — the  sense  that  shall  enlarge  the 
horizon  of  your  being,  to  the  limits  of  the  uni- 
verse; to  the  boundaries  of  time  and  space; 
that  shall  lift  you  up  into  a  new  plane  far 
beyond,  outside  all  mean  and  miserable  care 
for  self.  Why  stand  shrinking  there?  Give 
up  the  fool's  paradise  of  This  is  I';  This  is 
mine.'  It  is  the  great  reality  you  are  asked  to 
grasp.  Leap  forward  without  fear.  You  shall 
find  yourself  in  the  ambrosial  waters  of  Nir- 
vana and  sport  with  the  Arhats  who  have 
conquered  birth  and  death." 

This  admonition  to  give  up  the  struggle 
and  strife  for  separateness  is  interpreted  by 
many  to  declare  for  annihilation  of  conscious- 
ness of  identity,  but  we  contend  that  union 
is  in  no  wise  akin  to  annihilation,  and  since 
this  assurance  of  union  is  further  described  as 
an  enlargement  of  the  horizon  of  your  being, 
it  is  evident  that  your  being  can  not  be  en- 
larged by  becoming  annihilated,  or  even 
absorbed  into  The  Absolute,  as  in  that  event  it 
would  cease  to  be  your  being.  Moreover,  you 
are  told  that  you  will  "sport  with  the  Arhats 
who  have  conquered  birth  and  death."  Arhats 
are  alluded  to  in  the  plural,  and  not  as  One  Being. 

To  be  sure  there  may  be  a  final  state  of 


96  Cosmic  Consciousness 

absorption  of  consciousness  far  beyond  this 
state  of  being  which  is  described  as  Nirvana. 

Theosophy  lays  much  stress  upon  the  as- 
sumption that  the  attainment  of  godhood  is 
possible  to  every  human  soul,  but  that  this 
godhood  must  inevitably  have  an  ultimate 
conclusion.  That  is,  there  is  a  place  or  heaven, 
which  is  called  the  Devachanic  plane,  and  this 
plane,  or  place,  is  inhabited  by  "gods,"  for  a 
definite  period,  approximating  thousands  of 
years,  but  that  the  final  conclusion  must  be 
absorption  of  identity  into  the  universal 
reservoir  of  mind,  or  consciousness.  But  we 
may  readily  see  that  beyond  the  Devachanic 
plane,  we  may  not  penetrate  with  the  limited 
consciousness  which  takes  cognizance  of  ex- 
ternal conditions.  Any  attempt,  therefore,  at 
a  description  of  what  occurs  to  the  individual 
consciousness  beyond  the  areas  of  Devachan, 
must  be  futile. 

The  argument  that  most  logically  postulates 
the  assumption  that  all  identity,  or  differenti- 
ation of  consciousness,  becomes  absorbed  into 
The  Absolute,  is  based  upon  the  fact  that  we 
remember  nothing  of  previous  states  of  con- 
sciousness. That  is,  the  devious  pathway  by 
which  the  advanced  and  progressive  individual 
has  reached  his  present  state  or  realization 
of  consciousness,  is  shrouded  in  oblivion. 


Self-ness  and  Selflessness  97 

From  this  it  is  not  unnatural  to  assume  that 
since  we  have  come  OUT  OF  THE  VOID, 
having  apparently  no  memory  or  realization 
of  what  preceded  this  coming,  we  will  return 
to  the  same  state,  when  we  shall  have  com- 
pleted the  round  of  evolution. 

This  postulate,  is,  however,  merely  the 
result  of  our  limited  power  of  comprehension, 
and  may  or  may  not  be  true.  The  answer  is 
as  yet  inexplicable  to  the  finite  mind,  con- 
sidered from  the  standpoint  of  relative  proof. 

If  it  were  a  fact,  that  all  Oriental  sages  ex- 
periencing the  phenomenon  of  liberation, 
nmkti,  had  reported  what  would  seem  to  be 
annihilation  of  identity  of  consciousness,  we 
still  maintain  that  this  fact  would  not  be  proof 
sufficient  upon  which  to  postulate  this  con- 
clusion, for  the  very  obvious  reason  that  the 
present  era  promises  what  Occidental  theology, 
science,  and  philosophy  unite  in  designating 
as  a  "new  dispensation,"  wherein  the  "old 
shall  pass  away,"  and  a  "new  order"  shall  be 
established. 

"Look  how  the  fine  and  valuable  gold-dust 
shifts  through  the  screen,  leaving  only  the 
useless  stones  and  debris  in  the  catches;  even 
so  that  which  is  infinitely  fine  substance  be- 
comes lost  when  sifted  through  the  screen  of 


98  Cosmic  Consciousness 

the  limited  mind  of  man,"  said  a  wise  Japanese 
high  priest. 

However,  it  is  our  contention  that  Buddh- 
ism, far  indeed  from  postulating  the  assump- 
tion that  individual  consciousness  is  swallowed 
up  in  The  Absolute,  as  is  frequently  understood 
by  Occidental  translators  of  Buddhistic  writ- 
ings, announces  a  calm  and  unquestioning 
conviction  in  the  power  of  man  to  attain 
to  immortality,  and  consequent  godhood, 
through  contemplation  of  faith  in  his  own 
identity  with  the  Supreme  One. 

When  we  consider  that  there  are  in  the 
religion  of  Buddhism,  as  many  as  sixty  dif- 
ferent expositions  of  the  teachings  of  the  Lord 
Buddha,  and  that  these  vary,  even  as  the 
Christian  sects  vary  in  their  interpretations 
and  presentments  of  the  instructions  of  the 
Master,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  we  begin  to  have 
some  idea  of  the  difficulties  of  correct  inter- 
pretation of  the  obscure  and  mystical 
language  in  which  mukti  is  ever  described. 

One  of  the  most  quoted  of  the  translations 
of  the  Life  of  Buddha,  reaches  the  English 
readers  through  devious  ways,  namely,  from 
the  Sanskrit  into  Chinese,  and  from  the 
Chinese  into  English,  and  again  edited  by  an 
English  scientist  who  is  also  an  Oriental  scholar. 

We  must  also  consider  the  poverty  of  the 


Self-ness  and  Selflessness  gp 

English  language  when  used  to  describe 
supra-conscious  experiences,  or  what  modern 
thought  terms  Metaphysics.  Only  within 
very  recent  times,  approximating  twenty-five 
years,  there  have  been  coined  innumerable 
words  in  the  English  language. 

The  advances  made  in  mechanical,  scientific, 
ethical  and  philosophical  thought,  have  made 
this  a  necessity,  while,  when  it  comes  to  an 
attempt  at  clarifying  the  meaning  of  mystical 
terms,  a  very  wide  range  of  interpretation  is 
imperative. 

Buddha,  addressing  his  servant,  says: 

"Kandaka,  take  this  gem  and  going  back 
to  where  my  father  is,  lay  it  reverently  before 
him,  to  signify  my  heart's  relation  to  him." 

It  is  related  that  the  gem  mentioned  was  a 
beryl,  which  in  the  language  of  gems  signifies 
purity  and  peace.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  all  Oriental  languages  give  power  to  gems, 
perfumes  and  talismanic  symbols.  This  fact 
makes  direct  translation  of  Oriental  writings 
a  difficult  task  for  the  Occidental  scholar,  who, 
until  recently  at  least,  gave  no  power  to  so- 
called  "inanimate"  things. 

"And  then  for  me  request  the  king  to  stifle 
every  fickle  feeling  of  affection,  and  say  that 
I,  to  escape  from  birth  and  age  and  death, 
have  entered  the  forest  of  painful  discipline. 


IOO  Cosmic  Consciousness 

"Not  that  I  may  get  a  heavenly  birth,  much 
less  because  I  have  no  tenderness  of  heart, 
or  that  I  cherish  any  cause  of  bitterness,  but 
only  that  I  may  escape  this  weight  of  sorrow ; 
the  accumulated  long-night  weight  of  covetous 
desire.  I  now  desire  to  ease  the  load,  so  that 
it  may  be  overthrown  forever;  therefore  I 
seek  the  way  of  ultimate  escape. 

"If  I  should  gain  the  way  of  emancipation, 
then  shall  I  never  need  to  put  away  my 
kindred,  to  leave  my  home,  to  sever  ties  of 
love.  O  grieve  not  for  your  son.  The  five 
desires  of  sense  beget  the  sorrow;  those  held 
by  lust  themselves  induce  sorrow;  my  very 
ancestors,  victorious  kings,  have  handed  down 
to  me  their  kingly  wealth ;  I,  thinking  only  on 
eternal  bliss,  put  it  all  away." 

The  meaning  here  conveyed  is  simple 
enough  to  understand.  From  a  long  line  of 
ancestors  who  had  ruled  with  the  unquestioned 
authority  of  Oriental  monarchs,  the  young 
prince  felt  that  he  had  inherited  much  that 
would  retard  his  soul's  freedom.  The  ex- 
amples of  kings  and  emperors  who  have 
abandoned  their  possessions  have  been  too  few 
to  cause  us  to  believe  that  they  have  held  these 
possessions  as  naught. 

Through  rivers  of  blood;  through  ages  of 
despotism,  and  self-seeking,  kings  and  em- 


Self  -ness  and  Selflessness  lot 


perors  have  maintained  their  vested 
bequeathing  to  their  progeny  the  same  desires  ; 
the  same  covetousness  of  worldly  power;  the 
same  consideration  for  the  lesser  self;  the 
same  hypnotism  that  takes  account  of  caste. 

To  escape  from  these  fetters  of  the  soul, 
into  a  realization  of  the  Eternal  Oneness  of 
life,  was  no  easy  task  for  the  inheritor  of  such 
desires  and  beliefs  and  appetites  as  an  an- 
cestry of  rulers  imposes. 

And  Prince  Siddartha  was  anxious  to  escape 
reincarnation  —  a  theory  or  conviction  insep- 
arable from  Oriental  religion. 

His  reference  to  "fickle  affection"  means 
literally  that  selfish  affection  of  the  parent, 
which  would  retain  the  fleeting  joy  of  a  few 
short  earthly  years  of  companionship,  while 
the  larger  and  more  perfect  love  would  bid 
the  child  seek  its  birthright  of  godhood.  The 
word  "fickle"  here  would  more  properly  be 
translated  transitory. 

Buddha's  desire  to  escape  from  a  con- 
tinuous round  of  deaths  and  "leave-takings 
from  kindred,"  does  not  necessarily  imply  an 
absorption  into  The  Absolute;  it  may  as  logic- 
ally be  interpreted  to  mean,  that  liberation 
from  the  hypnotisms  of  externality  (mukti)  in- 
sures the  possession  and  power  of  the  gods  — 
power  over  physical  life  and  death,  and  this 


IO2  Cosmic  Consciousness 

power  need  not  mean  a  cessation  from  indi- 
vidual consciousness,  but  rather,  a  full 
realization  of  individual  unity  with  the  sum  of 
all  consciousness. 

There  is  another  mistaken  interpretation  of 
the  means  of  attainment  of  that  state  of  liber- 
ation, which  has  been  alluded  to  in  so  many 
varied  terms.  The  fact  that  Buddha,  like  many 
of  the  Oriental  Masters,  sought  the  seclusion 
of  the  forest;  the  isolation,  and  simplicity  of 
the  hermit, — has  given  rise  to  the  belief, 
almost  universally  held  among  Oriental  dis- 
ciples, that  liberation  from  maya,  the  delusions 
of  the  world,  can  not  be  attained  save  by  these 
methods. 

Monasteries  are  the  result  of  this  idea,  and 
this  Buddhistic  practice  was  adopted  by  the 
first  Christian  church,  since  which  time  the 
real  purpose  and  intention  of  the  monastery 
and  the  nunnery  have  become  lost  in  the 
concept  of  sacrifice  or  punishment.  The 
Christian  monk  almost  invariably  retires  to 
a  monastery,  not  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
sciously attaining  to  that  enlarged  area  of 
consciousness  which  insures  liberation,  tnukti, 
but  as  an  "outward  and  visible  sign"  that  he 
is  willing  to  undergo  the  sacrifice  of  worldly 
pleasures  at  the  behest  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
Thus,  the  real  object  of  retirement  is  lost,  and 


Self -ness  and  Selflessness  103 

the  sacrifice  again  becomes  in  the  nature  of  a 
"bargain." 

In  the  Bhagavad  Gita,  we  find  these  words : 

"Renunciation  and  yoga  by  action  both  lead 
to  the  highest  bliss ;  of  the  two,  yoga  by  action 
is  verily  better  than  renunciation  of  action. 
He  who  is  harmonized  by  yoga,  the  self- 
purified,  self-ruled,  the  senses  subdued,  whose 
self  is  the  self  of  all  beings,  although  acting, 
yet  is  such  an  one  not  affected. 

"He  who  acteth,  placing  all  action  in  the 
eternal,  abandoning  attachment,  is  unaffected  by 
sin  as  a  lotus  leaf  by  the  waters." 

This  is  interpreted  according  to  the  view- 
point of  the  translator,  even  as,  among  an 
audience  of  ten  thousand  persons,  we  may  find 
almost  as  many  interpretations,  and  shades 
of  meaning  of  a  musical  composition. 

True,  the  Oriental  meaning  seems  to  be  the 
one  that  we  shall  cease  to  love  friends,  rela- 
tives, and  lovers,  abandoning  them  as  one 
would  abandon  the  furniture  of  one's  house- 
hold when  outworn,  and  no  longer  of  service. 

We  do  not  accept  this  interpretation. 

To  abandon  one's  friends,  one's  loved  ones, 
yea,  even  one's  would-be  enemies  is  equiva- 
lent to  leaving  one's  companions  on  a  sinking 
raft  and,  without  sentiment  or  remorse,  save 
pne's  physical  self  from  destruction. 


104  Cosmic  Consciousness 

No  higher  sentiment  is  known  to  struggling 
humanity  than  love  of  each  other.  "Greater 
love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  he  lay  down 
his  life  for  a  friend." 

Oriental  or  Occidental  philosophy,  which- 
ever may  be  presented  to  the  mind,  as  an 
unfailing  guide,  should  be  distrusted,  if  that  phi- 
losophy prescribes  the  abandonment  of  lover, 
friend,  relative,  neighbor,  brother,  companion. 
That  is,  if  we  accept  the  dictionary  meaning 
of  the  word  "abandoned"  as  translated  into 
English. 

A  western  avatar  has  said: 

"I  will  not  have  what  my  brother  can  not," 
and  in  this  we  heartily  concur,  not  hesitating 
to  say  that  until  all  human  life  shall  accept 
and  realize  the  fullness  of  this  message,  we 
shall  not,  as  a  race,  have  attained  to  the  in- 
heritance that  is  ours. 

But  shall  we  then  believe,  that  the  Oriental 
doctrine  is  erroneous?  Not  necessarily. 

Errors  of  interpretation  are  not  only  natural 
but  inevitable,  and  this  interpretation  of  aban- 
donment is  in  line  with  the  idea  of  sacrifice 
(using  the  word  in  its  old  sense  of  paying  a 
debt),  which  prevailed  throughout  all  the  cen- 
turies just  passed — centuries  in  which  the  idea 
of  God  was  estimated  by  the  conduct  of  the 
kings  and  monarchs  of  earth. 


Self-ness  and  Selflessness  101 

A  later  revelation  or  dispensation  has  given 
what  the  Illumined  One  said  was  a  "new  com- 
mandment," and  it  is  one  more  in  accord  with 
our  ideals  of  godhood. 

"A  new  commandment  I  give  unto  you,  that 
ye  love  one  another." 

But  love,  like  everything  which  is,  means 
much  or  little,  according  as  the  soul  is  ad- 
vanced in  knowledge,  or  is  undeveloped. 

Perfect  and  complete  love  is  not  selfish;  it 
desires  not  possession,  but  union.  There  is 
a  world  of  difference  between  the  two  words. 

"The  soul  enchained  is  man,  and  free  from 
chain  is  God,"  said  Sri  Ramakrishna. 

And  the  soul  is  enchained  by  illusion — by 
mistaking  the  effect  for  the  cause,  and  by 
regarding  the  effect  as  the  real,  instead  of 
realizing  the  incompleteness;  the  limitedness; 
the  unsatisfying  character  of  the  changing1 — 
the  external. 

Not  that  the  pursuit  of  the  external  is  sinful, 
but  it  is  unsatisfying,  while  the  soul  that  has 
caught  a  glimpse  of  that  wonderful  ecstacy  of 
Illumination,  has  found  that  which  satisfies. 

Upon  this  point  of  attainment  of  complete 
satisfaction,  and  certainty,  all  who  have 
experienced  the  consciousness  we  are  con- 
sidering seem  to  agree,  according  to  the 
testimony  here  submitted. 


CHAPTER  V 

INSTANCES  OF  ILLUMINATION 
AND  ITS  EFFECTS 

The  term  Illumination  seems  a  fitting  de- 
scription of  the  state  of  consciousness  which 
is  frequently  alluded  to  as  cosmic  conscious- 
ness. Without  the  light  of  understanding, 
which  is  a  spiritual  quality,  words  themselves 
are  meaningless.  When  the  mind  becomes 
Illumined  the  spirit  of  the  word  is  clear  and 
where  before  the  meaning  was  clouded,  or 
perhaps  altogether  obscured,  there  comes  to 
the  Illumined  One  a  depth  of  comprehension 
undreamed  of  by  the  merely  sense-conscious 
person. 

If  we  consider  the  recorded  instances  of 
Illumination  found  among  Occidentals,  we  will 
find  that  such  extreme  intensity  of  effort  as 
that  which  is  reported  of  Sri  Ramakrishna, 
and  other  Oriental  sages,  does  not  appear. 

It  would  seem  that  the  late  Dr.  Richard 
Maurice  Bucke  of  Toronto,  Canada,  was  the 
first  in  this  country  to  present  a  specific  classi- 
fication of  what  he  termed  the  "new" 
consciousness,  and  to  describe  in  some  detail, 
106 


Illumination  and  Its  Effects  107 

:ie  experience  of  himself  and  others,  notably 
iValt  Whitman. 

Dr.  Bucke's  first  public  exposition  of  these 
ixperiences  was  made  at  a  congress  of  the 
British  Medical  Association  in  Montreal, 
Canada,  in  September  of  the  year  1897.  Dr. 
Bucke  described  this  state  of  consciousness — 
a  subject  that  seemed  to  him  at  that  time  to 
be  a  new  one — in  the  following  words: 

"But  of  infinitely  more  importance  than 
telepathy,  and  so-called  spiritualism — no  mat- 
ter what  explanation  we  give  of  these,  or  what 
their  future  is  destined  to  be — is  the  final  act 
here  touched  upon.  This  is,  that  superim- 
posed upon  self-consciousness  as  is  that  faculty 
upon  simple  consciousness,  a  third  and  higher 
form  of  consciousness  is  at  present  making  its 
appearance  in  our  race.  This  higher  form  of 
consciousness,  when  it  appears,  occurs  as  it 
must,  at  the  full  maturity  of  the  individual, 
at  or  about  the  age  of  thirty-five,  but  almost 
always  between  the  ages  of  thirty  and 
forty.  There  have  been  occasional  cases 
of  it  for  the  last  two  thousand  years,  and 
it  is  becoming  more  and  more  common.  In 
fact,  in  all  appearances,  as  far  as  observed,  it 
obeys  the  laws  to  which  every  nascent  faculty 
is  subject.  Many  more  or  less  perfect  ex- 
amples of  this  new  faculty  exist  in  the  world 


io8  Cosmic  Consciousness 

today,  and  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  know 
personally  and  to  have  had  the  opportunity  of 
studying-,  several  men  and  women  who  have 
possessed  it.  In  the  course  of  a  few  more 
milleniums  there  should  be  born  from  the 
present  human  race,  a  higher  type  of  man, 
possessing  this  higher  type  of  consciousness. 
This  new  race,  as  it  may  well  be  called,  would 
occupy  toward  us,  a  position  such  as  that 
occupied  by  us  toward  the  simple  conscious 
'alulus  homo.'  The  advent  of  this  higher,  bet- 
ter and  happier  race,  would  simply  justify  the 
long  agony  of  its  birth  through  countless  ages 
of  our  past.  And  it  is  the  first  article  of  my 
belief,  some  of  the  grounds  for  which  I  have 
endeavored  to  lay  before  you,  that  a  new  race 
is  in  course  of  evolution." 

At  a  subsequent  date,  having  given  the  sub- 
ject further  consideration  and  having  collected 
data  corroborative  of  his  former  observations, 
Dr.  Bucke  said: 

"I  have,  in  the  last  three  years,  collected 
twenty-three  cases  of  this  so-called  cosmic 
consciousness.  In  each  case  the  onset  or  in- 
coming of  the  new  faculty  is  always  sudden, 
instantaneous.  Among  the  unusual  feelings 
the  mind  experiences,  is  a  sudden  sense  of 
being  immersed  in  flame  or  in  a  brilliant  light. 
This  occurs  entirely  without  worrying  or  out- 


Illumination  and  Its  Effects  109 

ward  cause,  and  may  happen  at  noonday  or  in 
the  middle  of  the  night,  and  the  person  at  first 
feels  that  he  is  becoming  insane. 

"Along  with  these  feelings  comes  a  sense  of 
immortality;  not  merely  a  feeling  of  certainty 
that  there  is  a  future  life, — that  would  be  a 
small  matter — but  a  pronounced  consciousness 
that  the  life  now  being  lived  is  eternal,  death 
being  seen  as  a  trivial  incident  which  does  not 
affect  its  continuity. 

"Further,  there  is  annihilation  of  the  sense 
of  sin,  and  an  intellectual  competency,  not 
simply  surpassing  the  old  plane,  but  on  an 
entirely  new  and  higher  plane.  *  *  *  The 
cosmic  conscious  race  will  not  be  the  race 
that  exists  today,  any  more  than  the  present 
is  the  same  race  that  existed  prior  to  the 
evolution  of  self-consciousness.  A  new  race 
is  being  born  from  us,  and  this  new  race  will 
in  the  near  future,  possess  the  earth." 

Dr.  Bucke  later  published  an  article  in  a 
current  magazine,  illustrating  the  illumination 
of  his  friend  Walt  Whitman,  and  supple- 
mented with  an  account  of  his  own  experience. 
We  quote  briefly  from  Dr.  Bucke's  account  of 
his  own  experience: 

"I  had  spent  the  evening  in  a  great  city 
yvith  some  friends  reading  and  discussing 
K>etry  and  philosophy.  We  had  occupied 


no  Cosmic  Consciousness 

ourselves  with  Wordsworth,  Shelley,  Brown- 
ing, and  especially  Whitman.  We  parted  at 
midnight.  I  had  a  long  drive  in  a  hansom  to 
my  lodgings.  My  mind,  deeply  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  ideas,  images  and  emotions 
called  up  by  the  reading  and  talk,  was  calm 
and  peaceful.  I  was  in  a  state  of  quiet,  almost 
passive  enjoyment,  not  actually  thinking,  but 
letting  ideas,  images  and  emotions  flow  of 
themselves,  as  it  were,  through  my  mind.  All 
at  once,  without  warning  of  any  kind,  I  found 
myself  wrapped  in  a  flame-colored  cloud.  For 
an  instant  I  thought  of  fire,  an  immense  con- 
flagration somewhere  close  by  in  that  great 
city.  The  next  moment  I  knew  that  the  fire 
was  within  myself." 

While  Dr.  Bucke  is  unquestionably  right  in 
his  estimate  of  the  fact  that  "a  new  race  is 
being  born,"  as  he  expresses  it,  there  can 
scarcely  be  any  question  of  individual  age,  in 
which  the  new  consciousness  may  be  expected. 
Physical  maturity  can  have  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  the  matter,  since  the  acquisition  of 
supra-consciousness  is  a  matter  of  the  ma- 
turity of  the  soul.  This  completement  of  the 
cycle  of  the  soul's  pilgrimage  and  service,  may 
come  at  any  age,  as  far  as  the  physical  body  is 
concerned.  Indeed,  science  records  no  definite 
age  at  which  even  physical  maturity  is  in- 


Illumination  and  Its  Effects  in 

variably  reached,  although  there  is  an  approxi* 
mate  age. 

A  case  recently  widely  commented  upon 
was  that  of  a  child  of  six  years  who  showed  every 
symptom  of  senility  or  old  age,  which  could  hardly 
be  possible  without  having  passed  what  we  call 
"maturity." 

Again,  we  find  that  some  persons  retain 
every  indication  of  youth,  both  of  mind  and 
body,  long  after  their  contemporaries  have 
reached  and  passed  middle  age.  It  is  coming 
more  and  more  to  be  admitted  that  age  is 
relative,  and  that  what  we  know  as 
the  relative  is  the  effect  of  mental  opera- 
tions. Mental  operations  are  subject  to 
change — to  enlargement. 

The  advent  of  cosmic  consciousness  is, 
therefore,  not  subject  to  what  we  know  as 
time,  as  applied  to  physical  development. 

Nor  should  we  speak  of  cosmic  conscious- 
ness as  an  acquisition,  but  rather  as  a 
realization,  since  the  consciousness  is,  at  all 
times.  It  always  has  been.  It  will  always  be. 
Our  relation  to  it  changes,  as  we  develop  from 
the  sense  conscious  to  the  self-conscious  state 
and  finally  to  what  we  term  the  "cosmic" 
conscious  state.  This  latter  must  of  neces- 
iity  have  been  as  yet  omy  imperfectly  realized. 


112  Cosmic  Consciousness 

even  by  those  of  the  Illuminati,  who  are  known 
to  the  world  as  avatars  and  saviours. 

Several  instances  of  the  possession  of  cos- 
mic consciousness  by  children,  are  personally 
known  to  the  writer.  A  well-known  woman 
writer  in  America  thus  describes  a  succession 
of  experiences  in  what  were  evidently  con- 
ditions of  cosmic  consciousness,  although  as 
she  said,  she  did  not  until  many  years  later 
realize  what  had  taken  place. 

Like  Lord  Alfred  Tennyson,  who  tells  of 
inducing  in  himself  a  state  of  spiritual  ecstasy 
or  liberation,  by  repeatedly  intoning  his  own 
name,  this  lady  acquired  the  habit  of  repeat- 
ing in  wonder  and  awe  the  name  by  which 
she  was  called  in  the  household,  which  was  an 
abbreviation  of  her  baptismal  name.  The 
effect  is  best  described  in  her  own  words: 

"It  seems  to  me  that  I  never  could  quite 
become  accustomed  to  hear  myself  addressed 
by  name.  When  some  member  of  the  house- 
hold would  call  me  from  study  or  play— even 
at  the  early  age  of  five  or  six  years — I  would 
instantly  be  seized  with  a  feeling  of  great  and 
almost  overwhelming  awe  and  amazement,  at 
the  sound,  which  I  knew  was  in  some  way 
associated  with  me. 

"I  found  it  extremely  difficult  to  identify 
myself  with  that  name,  and  often  wrhen  alone 


Illumination  and  Its  Effects  113 

would  repeat  the  name  over  and  over,  trying 
to  find  a  solution  of  the  'why  and  wherefore.' 

"At  length  this  wonderment  grew  upon  me 
to  such  an  extent  that  I  felt  I  must  see  this 
self  of  me  that  was  called  by  a  name. 

"I  acquired  the  habit  of  standing  on  a  chair 
to  gaze  into  the  mirror  above  the  chest  of 
drawers  in  my  mother's  bed-room,  and  putting 
my  face  close  to  the  mirror,  I  would  gaze  and 
gaze  into  the  eyes  I  saw  there,  and  repeat  over 
and  over  the  name  which  seemed  to  me  not  to 
belong  to  that  'other  self  hidden  behind  those 
eyes.  On  one  occasion  I  became  quite  en- 
tranced and  fell  from  the  chair,  after  which 
I  refrained  from  looking  into  the  mirror, 
although  I  did  not  for  many  years  get  over 
the  feeling  of  wonderment  at  the  sound  of  my 
own  name,  and  many  times,  on  repeating  the 
name  aloud,  I  would  feel  myself  being  lifted 
up  into  what  seemed  to  me  the  clouds  above 
my  head,  until  I  felt  myself  being  'melted,'  as 
I  termed  it,  into  the  moving  cloud  of  soft 
transparent  light. 

"At  this  time  I  was  between  seven  and  eight 
years  of  age,  and  although  I  was  far  beyond 
children  of  my  age,  in  my  school  studies,  I  was 
frequently  admonished  for  being  'stupid,' 
owing  to  the  fact  that  I  could  not  remember 


114  Cosmic  Consciousness 

the  names  of  objects,  nor  could  I  be  trusted  on 
an  errand. 

"While  walking  from  our  house  to  the 
grocer's,  scarcely  a  block  away,  I  would  ftel 
that  sudden  wonderment  and  awe  of  my  name 
steal  over  me,  and  again  I  would  be  trans- 
ported to  some  unknown,  yet  immanent 
region,  utterly  losing  consciousness  of  my  sur- 
roundings. I  would  sometimes  awake  to  find 
myself  standing  before  the  counter  of  the 
grocery  store,  struggling  to  remember  who 
and  where  I  was,  and  what  it  was  that  I  had 
been  sent  to  that  strange  place  for." 

This  lady  relates  that  she  never  dared  to  tell 
of  her  strange  experiences,  although  she  did 
not  "outgrow"  them  until  early  womanhood, 
when  she  dropped  the  abbreviation  of  her 
name,  and  assumed  her  full  baptismal  name. 
Whether  this  latter  fact  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  cessation  of  the  experience  is  doubt- 
ful. At  the  same  time,  she  declares  that  she 
can  even  now  induce  the  same  sensations,  and 
transport  herself  into  childhood  again  by 
repeating  her  childhood  name. 

The  following  extract  from  a  paper  pub- 
lished in  London,  England,  in  1890,  gives  a 
description  of  an  experience  of  a  young  man 
who  had  fallen  into  a  condition  which  the 
physicians  pronounced  "catalepsy."  This 


Illumination  and  Its  Effects  115 

young  man  was  at  the  time  a  medical  student, 
and  had  always  exhibited  a  tendency  to  en- 
trancement,  or  catalepsy.  On  recovering 
from  one  of  these  cataleptic  attacks,  and  being 
asked  to  give  a  description  of  his  sensations  or 
experiences,  the  young  man  said: 

"I  felt  a  kind  of  soothing  slumber  stealing 
over  me.  I  became  aware  that  I  was  floating 
in  a  vast  ocean  of  light  and  joy.  I  was  here, 
there,  and  everywhere.  I  was  everybody  and 
everybody  was  I.  I  knew  I  was  I,  and  yet  I 
knew  that  I  was  much  more  than  myself.  In- 
deed, it  seemed  to  me  that  there  was  no 
division.  That  all  the  universe  was  in  me  and 
I  in  it,  and  yet  nothing  was  lost  or  swallowed 
up.  Everything  was  alive  with  a  joy  that 
would  never  diminish." 

Such,  in  substance,  was  the  attempt  of  this 
young  man  to  describe  what  all  who  have  experi- 
enced cosmic  consciousness  unite  in  saying  is  inde- 
scribable, for  the  very  obvious  reason  that  there 
are  no  words  in  which  to  express  what  is  word- 
less, and  inexpressible.  This  authentic  account  of 
a  young  man  under  twenty  years  of  age,  how- 
ever, serves  to  prove  that  there  is  no  special 
age  of  physical  maturity  in  which  the  attain- 
ment of  this  state  of  consciousness  may  be 
expected. 

This  account  was  published  seven  years  pre- 


n6  Cosmic  Consciousness 

vious  to  Dr.  Bucke's  statement,  and  yet,  since 
it  is  not  quoted  in  Dr.  Bucke's  account,  it  is 
most  unlikely  that  he  had  seen  the  article. 
Certainly  the  young  man  had  never  heard  of 
the  experience  which  Dr.  Bucke  later  records, 
as  "cosmic  consciousness,"  and  yet  the  simi- 
larity of  the  experience  with  the  many  which 
have  been  recorded  is  almost  startling. 

The  salient  point  in  this  account,  as  in  most 
of  the  others  which  have  found  their  way  into 
public  print,  is  the  feeling  of  being  in  perfect 
harmony  and  union  with  everything  in  the 
universe.  "I  was  everything  and  everything 
was  I,"  said  this  young  man,  and  again  "I  was 
here,  there  and  everywhere  at  once,"  he  says 
in  an  effort  to  describe  something  which  in 
the  very  nature  of  it,  must  be  indescribable 
in  terms  of  sense  consciousness. 

Illustrative  of  the  connection  between  relig- 
ious ecstasy  and  cosmic  consciousness,  we  find 
the  experience  of  an  illiterate  negro  woman, 
a  celebrated  religious  and  anti-slavery  worker 
of  the  early  part  of  the  last  century. 

This  woman  was  known  as  "Sojourner 
Truth"  and  was  at  least  forty  years  of  age, 
in  1817,  when  she  was  given  her  freedom 
under  a  law  which  freed  all  slaves  in  New 
York  state,  who  had  attained  the  age  of  forty 
years. 


Illumination  and  Its  Effects  117 

Sojourner  Truth  never  learned  to  read  or 
write,  and  her  education  consisted  almost  en- 
tirely of  that  presentation  of  religious  truth 
which  finds  its  most  successful  converts  in 
revivalism. 

With  this  fact  in  mind,  nothing  less  than  the 
attainment  of  a  wonderful  degree  of  spiritual 
consciousness  could  account  for  her  marvel- 
ous power  of  description,  and  her  ready  flow 
of  language,  when  "exhorting." 

Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  wrote  of  her, 
in  an  article  published  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly, 
as  early  as  1863 : 

"I  do  not  recollect  ever  to  have  been  con- 
versant with  any  one  who  had  more  of  that 
silent  and  subtle  power  which  we  call  per- 
sonal presence,  than  this  woman.  In  the 
modern  spiritualistic  phraseology,  she  would 
be  described  as  having  a  'strong  sphere.' ' 

The  wonderful  mental  endowment  which 
seems  to  follow  as  a  complement  to  the  ex- 
perience of  Illumination,  when  not  already 
present,  as  in  the  case  of  Whitman,  for  ex- 
ample, is  characteristic  of  "Sojourner  Truth," 
or  Isabella,  as  she  was  baptized. 

Naturally,  this  mental  power,  seemingly 
inconsistent  with  her  humble  origin,  and  her 
unlettered  condition,  is  evidenced  along  those 
tines  which  made  up  the  sum  and  substance  of 


Ii8  Cosmic  Consciousness 

her  life.  Judging  her  from  the  broader  con- 
cept of  philosophy,  Isabella  appears  somewhat 
fanatical,  but  the  influence  of  her  life  and 
•work  was  so  great,  that  Wendell  Phillips 
wrote  of  her: 

"I  once  heard  her  describe  the  captain  of  a 
slave  ship  going  up  to  judgment,  followed  by 
his  victims  as  they  gathered  from  the  depths 
of  the  sea,  in  a  strain  that  reminded  me  of 
Clarence's  dream  in  Shakespeare,  and  equalled 
it.  The  anecdotes  of  her  ready  wit  and  quick 
striking  replies  are  numberless.  But  the  whole 
together  give  little  idea  of  the  rich,  quaint, 
poetic  and  often  profound  speech  of  a  most 
remarkable  person,  who  used  to  say  to  us: 
'You  read  books;  God  Himself  talks  to  me." 

Isabella's  conviction  that  she  had  "talked  to 
God,"  was  unshakable,  and  was,  indeed,  the 
dynamic  force  which  moved  her.  She  was 
accustomed  to  tell  of  the  strange  and  startling 
experience  in  which  she  met  God  face  to  face, 
and  in  which  she  said  to  Him :  "Oh,  God,  I 
didn't  know  as  you  was  so  big."  In  the  New 
England  Magazine  for  March,  1901,  there  was 
given  a  full  account  of  the  work  of  this  noted 
negro  woman.  Commenting  on  her  sense  of 
awe  of  the  immensity  of  God  "when  she  met 
him,"  the  writer  says: 

"The  consciousness  of  God's  presence  was 


Illumination  and  Its  Effects  119 

like  a  fire  around  her  and  she  was  afraid,  till 
she  began  to  feel  that  somebody  stood  between 
her  and  this  brilliant  presence;  and  after  a 
while  she  knew  that  this  somebody  loved  her. 
At  first,  she  thought  it  must  be  Cato,  a  preacher 
whom  she  knew  or  Deencia  or  Sally — people  who 
had  been  her  friends. 

"We  are  not  told  whether  these  persons 
were  living-  or  dead,  or  whether  she  thought 
they  had  come  in  the  flesh,  or  in  the  spirit  to 
her  relief.  However  this  may  be,  she  soon 
perceived  that  their  images  looked  vile  and 
black  and  could  not  be  the  beautiful  presence 
that  shielded  her  from  the  fires  of  God.  She 
began  to  experiment  with  her  inner  vision,  and 
found  that  when  she  said  to  the  presence  'I 
know  you,  I  know  you,'  she  perceived  a  light; 
but  when  she  said  'I  don't  know  you,'  the  light 
went  out. 

"At  last,  she  became  aware  that  it  was  Jesus 
who  was  shielding  her  and  loving  her,  and  the 
world  grew  bright,  her  troubled  thoughts  were 
banished,  and  her  heart  was  filled  with  praise 
and  with  love  for  all  creatures.  'Lord,  Lord,' 
she  cried,  'I  can  love  even  de  white  folks.' ' 

The  question  will  legitimately  arise  here,  as 
to  the  authenticity  of  an  experience  in  which 
Jesus  is  said  to  be  personally  guiding  and 
shielding  her,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that 


I2O  Cosmic  Consciousness 

the  mind  is  the  medium  through  which  the 
spiritual  realization  must  be  expressed  and,  as 
has  been  stated  previously,  the  description  of 
the  phenomenon  of  Illumination,  particularly 
when  experienced  in  a  sudden  influx  must  par- 
take of  the  character  of  the  mind  of  the 
illumined  one. 

William  James,  late  professor  of  Psychology 
of  Harvard  University,  in  his  exhaustive  book 
The  Varieties  of  Religious  Experiences,  in  the 
chapter  on  "The  Value  of  Saintliness,"  says: 

"Now  in  the  matter  of  intellectual  standards, 
we  must  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  unfair,  where 
we  find  narrowness  of  mind,  always  to  impute 
it  as  a  vice  to  the  individual  for  in  religious 
and  theological  matters,  he  probably  absorbs 
his  narrowness  from  his  generation.  More- 
over, we  must  not  confound  the  essentials  of 
saintliness  with  its  accidents,  which  are  the 
special  determination  of  these  passions  at  any 
historical  moment.  In  these  determinations 
the  saints  will  usually  be  loyal  to  the  tempo- 
rary idols  of  their  tribe." 

Applying  this  explanation  to  the  case  of 
"Sojourner  Truth,"  we  may  realize  that  the 
literal  conception  of  Jesus  as  her  guide  and 
shield,  was  a  mental  image,  inevitable  with 
her,  as  Jesus  was  the  motive  power  of  her 
every  thought  and  act.  And  although  at  the 


Illumination  and  Its  Effects  121 

moment  of  her  Illumination,  she  realized  the 
"bigness"  of  God,  later,  in  arranging  and  re- 
cording the  phenomenon,  in  her  mental  note- 
book, she  tabulated  it  with  all  she  knew  of  God 
— the  religious  enthusiasm  of  her  work  of  con- 
version to  the  religion  of  Jesus. 

Says  James,  commenting  upon  the  question 
of  conversion  in  human  experience:  and  this 
tendency  to  what  seems  a  narrow  and  limited 
viewpoint : 

"If  you  open  the  chapter  on  'Association,' 
of  any  treatise  on  Psychology,  you  will  read 
that  a  man's  ideas,  aims  and  objects  form 
diverse  internal  groups,  and  systems,  rela- 
tively independent  of  one  another.  Each  'aim* 
which  he  follows  awakens  a  certain  specific 
kind  of  interested  excitement,  and  gathers  a 
certain  group  of  ideas  together  in  subordina- 
tion to  it  as  its  associates." 

It  is  perhaps  natural  to  assume  that  most 
instances  of  the  attainment  of  Illumination, 
have  been  inseparable  from  religious  devotion, 
or  at  least  contemplative  mysticism. 

This  view  is  held  almost  exclusively  by 
Orientals,  and  seems  to  have  been  shared  to  a 
great  extent  by  western  commentators  upon 
the  subject. 

A  notable  example  among  Occidentals, 
bearing  the  religious  aspect,  and  one  which 


122  Cosmic  Consciousness 

is  important  from  the  fact  that  the  person  de- 
tailing his  experience,  was  a  man  of  mental 
training,  is  the  case  of  Rev.  Charles  G.  Fin- 
ney,  formerly  president  of  Oberlin  College. 
In  his  "Memoirs,"  Dr.  Finney  describes  what 
Orthodox  Christians  generally  call  the  "bap- 
tism of  the  Holy  Spirit" : 

"I  had  retired  to  a  back  room  for  prayer," 
writes  Dr.  Finney,  "and  there  was  no  fire  or 
light  in  the  room;  nevertheless  it  appeared 
to  me  as  if  it  were  perfectly  light.  As  I  went 
in  and  shut  the  door  after  me,  it  seemed  as  if 
I  met  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  face  to  face.  It  did 
not  occur  to  me  then  nor  did  it  for  some  time 
afterwards,  that  it  was  wholly  a  mental  state. 

"On  the  contrary,  it  seemed  to  me  a  reality, 
that  he  stooft  before  me  and  I  fell  down  at  his 
feet  and  poured  out  my  soul  to  him.  I  wept 
aloud  like  a  child  and  made  such  confessions 
as  I  could  with  choked  utterance. 

"It  seemed  to  me  that  I  bathed  his  feet 
with  my  tears,  and  yet  I  had  no  distinct  im- 
pression that  I  touched  him,  that  I  recollect. 
As  I  turned  and  was  about  to  take  my  seat,  I 
received  a  mighty  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"Without  any  expectation,  without  even  hav- 
ing the  thought  in  my  mind,  that  there  was 
any  such  thing  for  me,  without  any  recollec- 
tion that  I  had  ever  heard  the  thing  mentiontd, 


Illumination  and  Its  Effects  123 

by  any  person  in  the  world,  the  Holy  Spirit 
descended  upon  me  in  a  manner  that  seemed 
to  go  through  me  body  and  soul. 

"I  could  feel  the  impression  like  the  waves 
of  electricity  going  through  me  and  through 
me.  Indeed,  it  seemed  to  come  in  waves  of 
liquid  love.  For  I  could  not  express  it  in  any 
other  way.  It  seemed  like  the  very  breath  of 
God.  I  can  recollect  distinctly  that  it  seemed 
to  fan  me  like  immense  wings.  No  words  can 
express  the  wonderful  love  that  was  shed 
abroad  in  my  heart. 

"I  wept  aloud  with  joy  and  love.  These 
waves  came  over  me,  and  over  me,  one  after 
the  other,  until  I  recollect  that  I  cried  out,  'I 
shall  die  if  these  waves  continue  to  pass  over 
me.'  I  said  'Lord,  I  cannot  bear  any  more.' ' 

We  will  note,  that  although  Dr.  Finney  says 
that  he  could  not  remember  ever  having  heard 
the  thing  mentioned  by  any  person,  yet  he  felt 
"the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  It  is  prac- 
tically impossible  that  Dr.  Finney  could  have 
lived  in  an  age  and  a  community  which  was 
essentially  strict  in  its  Orthodoxy,  without 
having  heard  of  the  phrase  "baptism  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,"  even  though  the  words  had 
escaped  his  immediate  recollection.  However, 
the  point  that  characterizes  Dr.  Finney's  ex- 
perience, in  common  with  all  others,  is  that  of 


124  Cosmic  Consciousness 

seeing  an  intense  light,  and  of  the  realization 
of  the  overwhelming  force  of  love. 

The  relation  of  this  experience  to  a  creed 
or  system  of  religion,  is  something  which,  we 
believe,  may  be  accounted  for,  as  Professor 
James  has  said,  on  the  fact  of  "historical 
determination." 

Until  very  recently,  the  idea  that  spirituality 
was  impossible  save  in  connection  with  relig- 
ious systems,  and  rigid  discipline,  has  been 
quite  general. 

In  the  case  of  Dr.  Finney,  we  find  that  all 
his  life  previous  to  this  experience  he  had  been 
noted  for  his  simplicity  and  child-like  trust. 
Following  his  Illumination  we  learn  that  he 
became  a  man  of  great  influence,  and  power, 
because  of  "the  wonderful  humanity  which  he 
radiated." 

Similar  in  experience,  in  its  effects,  is  a  case 
related  by  Theodore  F.  Seward,  the  well- 
known  American  philanthropist. 

Mr.  Seward  relates  the  following  story: 

"The  strange  experience  which  I  here  relate 
came  to  a  friend  whom  I  knew  intimately,  and 
from  whose  lips  I  received  the  account.  It 
is  a  lady  in  middle  life,  who  has  for  years  been 
an  earnest  seeker  for  truth  and  spiritual  light. 
She  was  alone  in  her  room  sewing. 

"Thinking,  as  was  her  wont,  of  spiritual 


Illumination  and  Its  Effects  12^ 

things  and  feeling  a  strong  sense  of  the  pres- 
ence and  power  of  God,  she  suddenly  had  a 
consciousness  of  being  surrounded  by  a  bril- 
liant white  light,  which  seemed  to  radiate  from 
her  person.  The  light  continued  for  some 
minutes,  and  at  the  same  time,  she  felt  a  great 
spiritual  uplifting  and  an  enlargement  of  her 
mental  powers,  as  if  the  limitations  of  the  body 
were  transcended,  and  her  soul's  capacities 
were  in  a  measure  set  free  for  the  moment. 
The  experience  was  unique,  above  and  beyond 
the  ordinary  current  of  human  life,  and  while 
the  vision  or  impression  passed  away,  a  per- 
manent effect  was  produced  upon  her  mind. 
She  had  never  heard  the  term  'cosmic  con- 
sciousness/ and  did  not  know  that  the  subject 
it  covers  is  beginning  to  be  discussed." 

It  must  be  noted  that  in  these  experiences, 
the  idea  most  strongly  felt  was  the  one  of  the 
"power  and  presence  of  God,"  and  we  are  im- 
pressed with  the  fact  that,  no  matter  how 
varied  may  be  the  creeds  of  the  world,  as 
founded  by  "saviours"  and  incarnations  of 
God,  there  is  a  unity  among  all  races,  as  to 
the  fact  of  a  one  supreme  universal  power, 
which  is  Aum,  the  Absolute,  and  which  must 
represent  perfect  love  and  perfect  peace,  since 
all  who  have  glimpsed  their  unity  with  this 


126  Cosmic  Consciousness 

power,  testify  to  a  feeling  of  happiness,  peace 
and  satisfaction,  rare  and  exalted. 

By  comparing  the  experience  of  those  who 
have  attained  this  state  of  liberation  from  illu- 
sion, through  religious  rites  and  ceremonies, 
or  "sacrifice  to  God,"  as  it  is  not  infrequently 
called,  with  the  experience  of  those  who  have 
recorded  the  phenomenon,  apparently  arriving 
at  the  goal  through  intellectual  and  moral 
aspiration,  we  will  find  that  the  results  are 
almost  identical,  and  the  after-effects  similar. 

It  has  been  said  that  those  who  attain  lib- 
eration have  invariably  sought  to  found  a  new 
system  of  worship,  and  this  fact  has  given  rise 
to  the  many  paths  or  methods  of  attainment 
which  have  been  taught  by  various  Illumined 
Ones,  both  in  the  Orient  and  in  the  western 
world,  supplementary  as  it  were  to  the  main 
great  religious  systems. 

We  will  take  a  short  survey  of  a  few  of  these 
systems  in  Japan  and  India  in  comparatively 
modern  times,  or  at  least  during  the  last  two 
thousand  years,  which  is  modern  compared 
to  the  history  of  the  Orient. 


CHAPTER  VI 

EXAMPLES   OF   COSMIC   CONSCIOUS- 
NESS, WHO  HAVE  FOUNDED  NEW 
SYSTEMS  OF  RELIGION 

The  early  religion  of  Japan,  before  the 
advent  of  Buddhism,  was  extremely  simple. 

It  consists  of  the  postulate  that  there  was 
but  one  God,  Kami,  from  him  all  things  came, 
and  to  him  all  things  shall  return.  As  has 
been  stated  previously,  the  chief  injunction  of 
Shintoism  is:  "Keep  your  body  and  your  mind 
clean,  and  trust  Kami." 

Shintoism  literally  translated,  means  "the 
way  to  God,"  and  includes  the  belief  that  all 
persons  ultimately  reach  the  place  where  God 
dwells,  and  become  "one  with  Him." 

In  present  day  interpretations  and  descrip- 
tions of  Shintoism,  we  read  of  the  "heathen" 
belief  that  Kami  himself  dwells  in  person,  in 
the  "inner  temple"  or  sacred  place  of  Shinto 
temples. 

This  idea  doubtless  exists  as  a  reality  among 
the  very  ignorant  superstitious  devotees, 
much  as  among  the  ignorant  Catholics  we  find 
127 


128  Cosmic  Consciousness 

the  unquestioned  belief  that  the  actual  body 
and  blood  of  Jesus  the  Christ  is  contained  in 
the  Eucharist. 

The  Shinto  temple  always  contains  an 
"inner  or  sacred  shrine,"  which  is  equivalent 
to  the  "holy  of  holies,"  of  the  Mystic  Brother- 
hoods, and  typifies  the  fact  that  within  and 
not  without,  will  be  found  the  God  in  man,  by 
finding  which,  man  reaches  liberation,  or  cessa- 
tion from  the  cycle  of  births  and  deaths. 

A  Shinto  funeral  is  an  occasion  for  rejoicing, 
because  the  departed  one  may  be  a  step  farther 
on  the  way  to  God,  and  since  his  ancestors 
were  directly  responsible,  as  a  favor,  for  his 
occasion  to  become  reborn,  thus  fulfilling  the 
law  of  karma,  the  Shintoist  pays  much  respect 
to  his  ancestors. 

The  advent  of  Buddhism  into  Japan  was 
made  possible  by  the  simple  fact  that  the 
people  were  becoming  somewhat  disgruntled 
with  Shintoism,  because  of  its  emphasis  upon 
the  never-to-be  questioned  postulate  that  the 
Mikado  and  his  progeny  was  the  direct  gift 
of  Kami  to  his  people,  to  be  obeyed  without 
demur,  and  to  be  adored  as  divine. 

Several  generations  of  Mikados  who  did  not 
fulfil  the  ideal  of  Deity — an  ideal  to  which 
even  savages  attach  the  qualities  of  justice 
and  mercy — left  the  masses  ready  and  eager  to 


Examples  of  Cosmic  Consciousness     129 

grasp  at  a  religion  that  gave  them  some  other 
personified  god,  than  the  Mikado,  much  as  a 
drowning  man  clutches  at  a  straw. 

The  Lord  Buddha  was  a  prince,  therefore 
worship  of  him  would  not  be  an  absolutely 
impossible  step — an  unforgivable  breach  of 
contract  with  the  Mikado,  and  as  he  exhibited 
the  qualities  of  humility  and  mercy  and  toler- 
ance, he  was  welcomed.  The  religion  of  Japan 
is  today  regarded  as  Buddhistic,  although  the 
Imperial  family,  and  consequently  the  army 
and  the  navy  are  to  all  outward  appearance, 
Shintoists. 

Coming,  then,  to  a  consideration  of  the  vary- 
ing sects  of  Buddhism  in  Japan,  and  the  corres- 
ponding sects  in  India,  we  find  that  there  have 
been  nine  different  incarnations  of  God,  and 
that  another,  and,  it  is  believed  the  final  one, 
is  expected. 

The  intelligent  and  open  minded  seeker 
after  truth  of  whatever  race  or  color,  will  find 
in  the  instructions  given  man  by  each  and 
every  great  teacher,  whether  we  believe  in 
them  as  especially  "divine"  or  as  mere  humans 
who  have  attained  to  the  realization  of  their 
godhood  (avatars,)  a  complete  unity  of  pur- 
pose, and  if  these  teachers  differ  in  method  of 
attainment,  it  is  only  because  of  the  immutable 


130  Cosmic  Consciousness 

fact  that  there  can  be  no  one  and  only  way  of 
attainment. 

Methods  and  systems  are  established  con- 
sistently with  the  age  and  character  of  those 
whom  they  are  designed  to  assist  in  finding 
the  way. 

And  again  we  must  emphasize  the  fact  that 
by  the  phrase  "the  way,"  we  mean  the  way 
to  a  realization  of  the  godhood  within  the 
inner  temple  of  man's  threefold  nature. 

Thus,  the  intelligent,  unprejudiced  student 
of  the  religions  and  philosophies  of  all  times 
and  all  races,  will  find  that,  while  there  are 
many  and  diverse  paths  to  the  goal  of  "salva- 
tion," the  goal  itself  means  unity  with  the 
Causeless  Cause,  wherein  exists  perfection. 

Perhaps  it  has  been  left  for  the  expected 
Incarnate  God,  which  Christians  speak  of  as 
"the  second  coming  of  Christ,"  to  make  clear 
the  problem  as  to  whether  this  attainment  or 
completement  means  an  absorption  of  individ- 
ual consciousness,  or  whether  it  will  be  an 
adding  to  the  present  incarnation,  of  the 
memory  of  past  lives,  in  such  a  manner  that 
no  consciousness  shall  be  lost,  but  all  shall  be 
found. 

In  considering  instances  of  cosmic  con- 
sciousness, mukti,  which  have  been  recorded  as 
distinctly  religious  experiences,  and  the  effect 


Examples  of  Cosmic  Consciousness     131 

of  this  attainment,  the  system  best  known  to 
the  Occident,  is  contained  in  the  philosophy  of 
Vedanta,  expounded  and  interpreted  to  west- 
ern understanding  by  the  late  Swami 
Vivekananda. 

But  it  should  be  understood  that  the 
philosophy  taught  by  Vivekananda  is  not 
strictly  orthodox  Hinduism.  It  bears  the 
same  relation  to  the  old  religious  systems  of 
India  that  Unitarianism  bears  to  orthodox  Chris- 
tianity such  as  we  find  in  Catholicism,  and  its 
off-shoots. 

Vivekananda  honored  and  revered  and  fol- 
lowed, according  to  his  interpretation  of  the 
message,  Sri  Ramakrishna,  whom  an  increas- 
ing number  of  Hindus  regard  as  the  latest 
incarnation  of  Aum — the  Absolute.  Not  that 
the  reader  is  to  understand,  that  Sri  Ramak- 
rishna's  message  contradicted  the  essential 
character  of  the  basic  principles  of  orthodox 
Hinduism,  as  set  down  in  the  Vedas  and  the 
Upanashads. 

The  same  difference  of  emphasis  upon  cer* 
tain  points,  or  interpretations  of  meaning, 
exists  in  the  Orient,  as  in  the  western  world, 
in  regard  to  the  possible  meaning  of  the 
Scriptures. 

Sri  Ramakrishna,  who  passed  from  thu. 
earth  life  at  Cossipore,  in  1886,  was  a  disciple 


132  Cosmic  Consciousness 

of  the  Vedanta  system,  as  founded  by  Vyasa,  or 
by  Badarayana,  authorities  failing  to  agree  as 
to  which  of  these  traditional  sages  of  India 
founded  the  Vedantic  system  of  religion  or  phi- 
losophy. 

Vedanta,  particularly  as  interpreted  by  Sri 
Ramakrishna  and  his  successors,  offers  a 
wider  field  of  effort,  and  a  more  intellectual 
consideration  of  Hindu  religion  than  that  of 
the  Yoga  system  as  interpreted  from  the 
original  Sankhya  system  by  Patanjali,  about 
300  B.  C. 

Patanjali's  sutras  are  considered  the  most 
complete  system  of  Yoga  practice,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  mental  control,  and  psychic  develop- 
ment. Patanjali's  sutras  are  almost  identical 
with  those  employed  in  the  Zen  sect  of  Budd- 
hist monasteries,  throughout  Japan. 

These  sutras,  together  with  Buddhist  man- 
trams  will  be  considered  in  a  subsequent  chap- 
ter, devoted  to  the  development  of  spiritual 
consciousness  as  taught  by  the  Oriental  sages 
and  philosophers. 

One  other  great  teacher  of  modern  times 
who  has  left  a  large  following,  was  Lord 
Gauranga,  who  was  born  in  India  in  the  early 
part  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Gauranga  was 
worshipped  as  the  Lord  God,  whether  with  his 
consent,  or  without,  it  is  not  exactly  clear, 


Examples  of  Cosmic  Consciousness     133 

even  though  his  biographers  are  united  on  the 
fact  of  his  divine  origin. 

Those  who  have  espoused  the  message  of 
Gauranga  claim  that  he  brought  to  the  world 
"a  beautiful  religion,  such  as  had  never  before 
been  known."  But,  as  this  claim  is  made  for 
all  teachers  and  founders  of  religions  and 
philosophies,  we  suggest  that  the  reader  com- 
pare the  message  of  Lord  Gauranga  with 
those  of  other  avatars  and  teachers. 

Lord  Gauranga's  message  is  known  as 
Vaishnavitism,  and  we  will  here  consider  only 
those  passages  of  his  doctrine  which  shed  light 
upon  his  attainment  of  cosmic  consciousness. 
Certainly  his  breadth  of  mind,  and  his  stand- 
ards of  tolerance,  justice  and  consideration  for 
all  other  systems  of  worship,  would  indicate 
his  claim  to  cosmic  consciousness. 

One  of  the  contentions  of  the  Vaishnavas 
is  that  they  alone  of  all  religious  faiths,  admit 
the  divine  birth  and  mission  of  the  founders 
of  all  religions. 

Thus  the  Christians  have  declared  that 
Jesus  was  the  only  Son  of  God ;  the  Buddhists 
have  claimed  Buddha;  the  Hebrews  have 
clung  tenaciously  to  their  prophets  as  the 
only  true  messengers  from  heaven,  and  the 
Mohammedans  have  refused,  until  the  present 
century,  to  even  sit  at  the  table  with  the 


Cosmic  Consciousness 

"infidels"  who  would  not  acknowledge 
Mohammed  as  the  only  true  incarnation  of 
Allah. 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  these  claims 
have  been  made  by  the  blind  followers  of  these 
great  teachers,  and  that  it  is  almost  certain 
that  not  any  one  of  them  made  such  claim 
for  himself.  Certainly  he  did  not,  if  he  had 
attained  to  spiritual  consciousness. 

One  passage  from  the  doctrines  of  Gauranga 
is  almost  identical  with  many  others  who 
have  sought  to  express  the  feeling  of  security, 
of  deathlessness  which  comes  to  the  soul  which 
has  realized  cosmic  consciousness.  He  says: 

"My  Beloved,  whether  you  clasp  me  unto 
your  heart,  or  you  crush  me  by  that  embrace, 
it  is  all  the  same  to  me.  For  you  are  no  other 
than  my  own,  the  sole  partner  of  my  soul." 

The  gospel  of  Gauranga  and  his  followers 
is,  indeed,  much  more  a  gospel  of  love,  than 
of  methods  of  worship,  or  of  intellectual  re- 
search. The  realization  of  our  union  with 
God,  in  deathless  love,  is  the  key-note  of  the 
message,  and  this  great  joy  or  bliss  comes  to 
the  soul  as  soon  as  it  has  attained  Illumination 
through  love. 

God  is  alluded  to  in  Vaishnavism  most  fre- 
quently as  Anandamaya — meaning  all  joy. 
Vaishnavism  more  nearly  resembles  the  gos- 


Examples  of  Cosmic  Consciousness     135 

pel  of  Jesus,  as  taught  by  orthodoxy,  than  it 
does  the  Vedantic  systems,  since  it  does  not 
claim  that  God  is  within  each  human  organism, 
as  the  seed  is  within  the  fruit,  but  that,  by 
love,  we  may  gain  heaven  or  the  state  or  place 
where  God  dwells. 

"If  you  would  worship  God,  as  the  Giver  of 
Bounties,  then  shall  the  prayer  be  answered, 
and  further  connection  cut  off,  God  having 
answered  the  demand.  So  if  you  would  wor- 
ship God  in  simple  love,  He  will  send  love. 
The  real  devotee  seeks  to  establish  a  relation- 
ship with  God  which  will  endure.  He  will  ask 
only  to  worship  and  love  God,  and  pray  that 
his  soul  may  cling  to  God  in  divine  reverence 
and  love."  Thus,  say  the  Vaishnavas,  "God 
serves  as  he  is  served,  in  absolute  justice." 

Another  salient  point  which  the  followers  of 
Lord  Gauranga  emphasize,  is  the  "All-Sweet- 
ness" of  God.  This  idea  is  impressed,  doubt- 
less that  the  devotee  may  not  feel  an  impossible 
barrier  between  himself  and  so  great  and  all- 
powerful  a  being,  as  God,  when  His  Omnipo- 
tence is  considered.  The  idea  is  similar  to  that 
of  the  Roman  church,  which  bids  its  untutored 
children  to  select  some  patron  saint,  or  to  say 
prayers  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  because  these 
characters  were  once  human  and  seem  to  be 
nearer,  and  more  approachable  than  the  Great 


136  Cosmic  Consciousness 

God  whose  Majesty  and  All-Mightiness  have 
been  exploited. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  the  fact  remains,  that 
Lord  Gauranga  is  said  to  have  earned  the 
devotion  and  love  of  some  of  the  most  learned 
pundits  of  India  and,  according  to  a  recent 
biographer,  "he  had  all  the  frailties  of  a  man; 
he  ate  and  slept  like  a  man.  In  short,  he  be- 
haved generally  like  an  ordinary  human 
being,  but  yet  he  succeeded  in  extorting  from 
the  foremost  sages  of  India,  the  worship  and 
reverence  due  a  God." 

The  fact  that  Lord  Gauranga  "behaved 
like  a  man,"  is  comforting,  to  say  the  least, 
and  presages  the  coming  of  a  day  when  "be- 
having like  a  man"  will  not  be  considered  un- 
godly. When  that  time  shall  have  arrived, 
surely  there  will  be  less  mysticism  of 
the  hysterical  variety  and  probably  fewer 
hypocrites. 

Very  unlike  Lord  Gauranga,  is  the  report 
of  a  writer  of  India,  who  tells  of  the  effects 
of  cosmic  consciousness  upon  Tukaram,  con- 
sidered to  be  one  of  the  greatest  saints  and 
poets  of  Ancient  India.  Tukaram  lived  early 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  some  years  later  than 
Lord  Gauranga. 

This  Maharashtra  saint  is  chiefly  remem- 
bered for  his  beautiful  description  of  the 


Examples  of  Cosmic  Consciousness     137 

effects  of  Illumination,  in  which  he  likens  the 
human  soul  to  the  bride,  and  the  bridegroom 
is  God.  This  poem  is  called  "Love's  Lament," 
and  might  have  been  written  by  an  impas- 
sioned lover  to  his  promised  bride. 

The  life  of  Tukaram,  like  that  of  the  late 
Sri  Ramakrishna  Paramanansa,  was  one  long 
agony  of  yearning  and  struggle  for  that  peace 
of  soul  which  he  craved.  One  of  his  chroni- 
clers thus  describes,  in  brief,  the  final  struggle 
and  the  subsequent  attainment  of  Illumination 
of  this  good  man : 

"Selfless,  he  sought  to  gather  no  crowds  of 
idle  admiring  disciples  about  him,  but  followed 
what  his  conscience  dictated.  He  listened  not 
to  the  counsel  of  his  relatives  and  friends,  who 
thought  he  had  gone  mad;  and  he  bore  in 
patience  the  well-meant  but  harsh  rebukes  of 
his  second  wife.  After  a  long  mental  struggle, 
the  agonies  of  which  he  has  recorded  in  heart- 
rending words,  now  entreating  God  in  the 
tenderest  of  terms,  now  resigning  himself  to 
despair,  now  appealing  with  the  petulance  of 
a  pet  child  for  what  he  deemed  his  birthright, 
now  apologizing  in  all  humility  for  thus  taking 
liberties  with  his  Mother-God,  he  succeeded  at 
last  in  gaining  a  restful  place  of  beatitude — 
a  state  in  which  he  nuerged  his  soul  in  the  uni- 


138  Cosmic  Consciousness 

versal  soul," — that  is,  Illumination,  or  cosmic 
consciousness. 

Sadasiva  Brahman,  one  of  the  great  Siddhas, 
and  a  comparatively  modern  sage  of  India, 
left  a  Sanskrit  poem  called  Atmavidyavilasa, 
which  gives  a  comprehensive  description  of 
the  experience  and  the  effects  of  Illumination, 
as  for  example : 

"The  sage  whose  mind  by  the  grace  of  his 
blessed  Guru  is  merged  in  his  own  true  nature 
(Existence,  Intelligence,  and  Bliss  Absolute), 
that  great  Illumined  one,  wise,  with  all  egotism 
suppressed,  and  extremely  delighted  within 
himself,  sports  in  joy." 

"He  who  is  himself  alone,  who  has  known 
the  secret  of  bliss,  who  has  firmly  embraced 
peace,  who  is  magnanimous  and  whose  feel- 
ings other  than  those  of  the  at  man,  have  been 
allayed,  that  person  sports  on  his  pleasant 
couch  of  self-bliss." 

"The  pure  moon  of  the  prince  of  recluses, 
who  is  fit  to  be  worshipped  by  gods  and  whose 
moonlight  of  intelligence  that  dispels  the 
darkness  of  ignorance  causes  the  lily  of  the 
earth  to  blossom,  shines  forth  in  the  abode  of 
the  all-pervading  Essence  of  Light." 

The  above  stanzas  represent  a  more  imper- 
sonal idea  of  the  bliss  of  attainment  than  those 
of  many  others  who  have  experienced  Illumi- 


Examples  of  Cosmic  Consciousness     139 

nation,  but  they  emphasize  the  same  point  that 
we  find  throughout  all  writings  of  the  Illumi- 
nati,  namely,  the  realization  of  the  kingdom 
within,  rather  than  without,  and  the  necessity 
of  selflessness — meaning  the  subjugation  of  the 
lesser  self,  the  mental,  to  the  soul. 

We  come  now  to  a  consideration  of  the  life 
and  character  of  the  Lord  Buddha,  whose 
influence  is  still  stronger  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  than  that  of  any  other  person  who  has 
ever  taught  the  precepts  of  attainment. 

In  Japan,  for  example,  Buddhism,  in  its 
various  branches,  or  interpretations,  is  the 
religion  of  the  vast  majority  and  even  wrhere 
Shintoism  is  the  method  of  worship,  the 
influence  of  Buddhism  may  be  seen.  So  too, 
we  find  in  Japan,  a  form  of  Buddhism,  which 
shows  evidences  of  the  influence  of  Shintoism, 
but  I  think  it  may  be  admitted  that  Japan,  above 
all  other  countries,  represents  today,  the  religion 
of  Buddhism. 

Buddhism  has  been  called  the  "religion  of  en- 
lightenment," but  the  term  "illumination"  as  it 
is  used  to  describe  the  attainment  of  cosmic  con- 
sciousness, is  what  is  meant,  rather  than  the 
purely  intellectual  quality  which  we  are  ac- 
customed to  think  of  as  enlightenment. 

Sakyamuni,    another    name    for    Buddhism, 


140  Cosmic  Consciousness 

means  also  illumination,  or  realization  of  the 
saving  character  of  the  light  within. 

The  lamp  is  the  most  important  symbol  in 
Buddhism,  as  it  typifies  the  divine  flame  or  illumi- 
nation (which  is  cosmic  consciousness),  as  the 
goal  of  the  disciple. 

Another  interpretation  of  the  symbol  of  the 
lamp,  is  that  of  the  power  of  the  lamp  to  shed 
its  rays  to  light  the  way  of  those  who  are  travel- 
ing "in  the  gloom,"  and  by  so  doing,  it  lights  the 
flame  of  illumination  in  others,  without  diminish- 
ing its  own  power.  An  article  of  faith  reads : 

"As  one  holds  out  a  lamp  in  the  darkness  that 
those  who  have  eyes  may  see  the  objects,  even 
so  has  the  doctrine  been  made  clear  by  the  Lord 
in  manifold  exposition." 

Again,  in  the  Book  of  the  Great  Decease,  we 
learn  that  Buddha  admonished  his  disciples  to 
"dwell  as  lamps  unto  yourselves."  Another 
symbol  used  throughout  Japan  as  a  means  of 
teaching  the  masses  the  essential  doctrines  of 
"The  Compassionate  One,"  has  become  familiar 
to  occidental  people  as  a  sort  of  "curio."  It  is 
that  of  the  three  monkeys  carved  in  wood  or 
ivory. 

One  monkey  is  covering  his  eyes  with  both 
paws;  another  has  stopped  his  ears;  and  the 
third  has  his  paw  pressed  tightly  over  his  mouth. 
The  lesson  briefly  told  is  to  "see  no  evil;  hear 


Examples  of  Cosmic  Consciousness     141 

no  evil;  speak  no  evil,"  and  the  reason  that  the 
monkey  is  employed  as  the  symbol,  is  because 
the  monkey,  more  than  any  other  animal,  resem- 
bles primitive  man.  If,  then,  we  would  rise  from 
the  monkey,  or  animal  condition  (the  physical 
or  animal  part  of  the  human  , organism),  we 
must  avoid  a  karma  of  consciousness  of  evil. 

Buddhism  is  full  of  symbolism,  and  these  sym- 
bols must  be  interpreted  according  to  the  age, 
or  of  the  individual  consciousness  of  the  inter- 
preter, or  the  translator.  But  the  fundamental 
doctrine  of  Buddha  is  essentially  one  of  renun- 
ciation as  applied  to  the  things  of  the  world. 
Nevertheless  this  quality  of  renunciation  has 
been  greatly  exaggerated  during  the  centuries, 
because  of  the  fact  that  the  Lord  Buddha  had 
so  much  to  give  up,  viewed  from  the  standpoint 
of  worldly  ethics. 

In  the  following  "sayings  of  Buddha,"  we  find 
that  the  quest  of  the  noble  sage  was  for  that 
supraconsciousness  wherein  change  and  decay 
were  not,  rather  than  that  he  regarded  the 
things  of  the  senses,  as  sinful.  For  example: 

"It  is  not  that  I  am  careless  about  beauty,  or 
am  ignorant  of  human  joys ;  but  only  that  I  see 
on  all  the  impress  of  change;  therefore,  my 
heart  is  sad  and  heavy."  Or  this: 

"A  hollow  compliance  and  a  protesting  heart, 
such  method  is  not  for  me  to  follow:  I  now 


742  Cosmic  Consciousness 

will  seek  a  noble  law,  unlike  the  worldly  methods 
known  to  men.  I  will  oppose  disease,  and  change 
and  death,  and  strive  against  the  mischief 
wrought  by  these,  on  men." 

According  to  the  Samyutta  Nikaya,  the  twelve 
Nidanas  (or  chain  of  consequences)  are: 

"On  ignorance  depends  karma; 

"On  karma  depends  consciousness; 

"On  consciousness  depends  name  and  form; 

"On  name  and  form  depends  the  six  organs  of 
sense." 

"On  contact  depends  sensation; 

"On  sensation  depends  desire; 

"On  desire  depends  attachment; 

"On  attachment  depends  existence; 

"On  existence  depends  birth; 

"On  birth  depend  old  age  and  death,  sorrow, 
lamentation,  misery,  grief,  and  despair. 

"Thus  does  this  entire  aggregation  of  misery 
arise." 

Having  arrived  at  this  conclusion,  the  problem 
may  be  solved  by  learning  how  to  avoid  existence. 
But,  let  us  consider  what  the  term  "existence" 
means.  The  common  acceptance  of  the  word, 
as  used  in  the  English,  seems  to  include  being; 
but  if  we  will  consider  the  word  in  its  literal 
meaning,  when  analyzed,  we  find  that  it  comes 
from  "est"  (to  be),  and  the  prefix  "ex,"  meaning 
actually  "not-being." 


Examples  of  Cosmic  Consciousness     143 

The  word  Being,  is  a  synonym  for  eternal  life 
— for  Deity.  It  does  not  savor  of  anything  that 
has  been  created,  or  that  will  terminate.  Being 
is,  therefore,  to  cease  to  ex-ist,  is  to  cease  to  live 
under  the  spell  of  the  illusory  and  changing 
quality  of  maya,  or  externality. 

Far  from  meaning  to  be  "wiped  out,"  or  ab- 
sorbed into  The  Absolute,  in  the  sense  of  com- 
plete loss  of  consciousness,  it  means  the  eternal 
retention  of  consciousness,  unhampered  by  the 
delusion  of  sense  as  a  reality. 

To  escape  from  this  chain  of  illusory  ideas, 
and  their  consequences,  the  obvious  necessity  is 
to  claim  the  soul's  right  to  Being.  This  is  done 
by  dispelling  ignorance  (A-vidya)  by  vidya 
(knowledge).  Thus  karma  ceases: 

"On  the  cessation  of  karma  ceases  conscious- 
ness of  self; 

"On  the  cessation  of  this  consciousness  of  self, 
cease  name  and  form; 

"On  the  cessation  of  name  and  form,  cease 
the  organs  of  sense; 

"On  the  cessation  of  sense,  ceases  contact; 

"On  the  cessation  of  contact,  ceases  sensation ; 

"On  the  cessation  of  sensation,  ceases  desire; 

"On  the  cessation  of  desire  ceases  attachment ; 

"On  the  cessation  of  attachment  ceases  exist- 
ence; 

"On  the  cessation  of  existence,  ceases  birth. 


$44  Cosmic  Consciousness 

"On  the  cessation  of  birth  cease  old  age,  and 
death;  sorrow;  lamentation;  misery;  grief  and 
despair.  Thus  does  the  entire  aggregation  of 
misery  cease." 

But,  as  to  the  exact  interpretation  of  all  these, 
Buddha  himself  says: 

"Ye  must  rely  upon  the  truth;  this  is  your 
highest,  strongest  vantage  ground;  the  foolish 
masters  practicing  superficial  wisdom,  grasp  not 
the  meaning  of  the  truth ;  but  to  receive  the  law, 
not  skillfully  to  handle  words  and  sentences,  the 
meaning  then  is  hard  to  know,  as  in  the  night- 
time, if  traveling  and  seeking  for  a  house,  if  all 
be  dark  within,  how  difficult  to  find." 

But  let  it  be  understood,  that  Buddhism  as 
now  taught  and  practiced  is  necessarily  colored 
by  the  effect  of  the  centuries  which  have  elapsed 
since  the  Lord  Buddha  lived  and  taught  the 
precepts  of  his  Illumination.  Modern  Buddhism, 
as  a  religious  system  of  worship  bears  the  same 
relation  to  Prince  Siddartha,  as  does  modern 
Christianity  to  Jesus  of  Nazereth. 

A  short  review  of  the  life  and  character  of 
the  personalities  around  whom  the  great  religious 
systems  of  the  world  have  been  formed  will  aid 
us  in  perceiving  the  unity  of  thought  and  char- 
acter of  the  Illumined,  and  the  similarity  of  re- 
ports as  to  the  effect  of  this  realization  of  cosmic 
consciousness  will  be  apparent. 


CHAPTER  VII 
MOSES,  THE  LAW-GIVER 

The  salient  feature  of  the  law  as  given  by 
Moses  unto  his  people,  the  Jews,  is  that  of  strict 
cleanliness  of  mind  and  body.  In  this  we  find 
a  similarity  to  the  oft-repeated  behest  of  Gau- 
tama, the  Buddha,  who  constantly  admonished 
his  followers  to  keep  their  hearts  pure  and  their 
minds  and  bodies  clean. 

This  spirit  of  cleanliness  finds  also  a  counter- 
part in  the  saying  ascribed  to  Jesus,  "blessed  are 
the  pure  in  heart." 

The  cleanliness  here  referred  to  is  doubtless 
not  so  much  physical  neatness  as  mental  purity 
of  thought — thought  free  from  doubt  and 
calumny  and  petty  deceits  and  hypocrisy  and 
selfishness  and  debasing  perversions  of  the  life 
forces;  but  during  various  stages  of  history  we 
find  that  all  teachings  have  their  esoteric  and 
their  exoteric  application. 

The  law,  as  enunciated  by  Moses,  according 
to  the  Jewish  reports,  laid  much  stress  upon 
physical  cleanliness,  as  an  attribute  of  godhood. 

But  Moses,  if  we  may  credit  reports,  was 
something  far  more  inspired  and  illumined  than 
145 


146  Cosmic  Consciousness 

a  mere  physical  culturist— commendable  as  is 
personal  cleanliness — and  his  admonitions  were 
the  result  of  that  fine  sense  of  discrimination 
and  enlightenment  which  comes  from  cosmic  per- 
ception, even  if  he  had  not  experienced  the 
deeper,  fuller  realization  of  liberation,  of  which 
Buddha  is  a  shining  example. 

It  is  evident  that  the  laws  laid  down  by  Moses 
were  taught  and  practised  by  the  Egyptians 
many  many  years  prior  to  the  time  in  which 
Moses  lived,  which  from  the  most  reliable  author- 
ities, must  have  been  about  four  to  five  hundred 
years  before  the  Exodus. 

This  does  not  detract  from  the  evidence  that 
the  great  Egyptian-Hebrew,  was  a  man  of  won- 
derful intellectual  attainments,  and  from  what 
we  know  of  modern  examples  of  Illumination, 
he  also  possessed  a  degree  of  cosmic  conscious- 
ness. 

The  story  of  the  seemingly  miraculous  birth 
of  Moses,  and  the  mystery  with  which  his  ances- 
try is  surrounded,  is  also  typical  of  one  who  has 
attained  to  cosmic  consciousness. 

The  Illumined  one  realizes  his  birthlessness 
and  his  deathlessness,  and  expresses  it  in  sym- 
bolism, meaning  of  course,  the  realization  that 
as  the  spirit  is  never  born  and  can  never  die,  the 
idea  of  age  is  an  unreality — and  should  find  no 
place  in  the  consciousness  of  one  who  regards 


Moses,  The  Law-Giver  147 

himself  as  an  indestructible  atom  of  the  Cosmos. 

But  the  evidences  regarding  the  probable 
Illumination  of  Moses  are  to  be  found  in  the 
reports  of  his  ascension  of  Mt.  Sinai,  and  what 
occurred  there. 

The  phenomenon  of  the  great  light  which  is 
inseparable  from  instances  of  cosmic  conscious- 
ness, and  which  gives  to  the  phenomenon  its 
name  "Illumination,"  was  apparently  marked  in 
the  case  of  Moses. 

The  "burning  bush,"  which  he  describes  is  the 
experience  of  the  mind  when  the  illusion  of  sense 
has  ceased,  even  temporarily,  to  obscure  the  men- 
tal vision. 

"And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  unto 
him  in  a  flame  of  fire,  and  out  of  the  midst  of  a 
bush ;  and  he  looked  and  behold,  the  bush  burned 
with  fire  and  the  bush  was  not  consumed." 

There  is  a  subtler  interpretation  to  this  re- 
port than  that  usually  given,  even  by  those  who 
realize  that  this  expression  is  an  evidence  of 
the  sudden  influx  of  supra  consciousness  which 
attends  the  soul's  liberation  from  the  limits  of 
sense  consciousness. 

The  "burning  bush"  is  synonymous  with  the 
"tree  of  life"  which  is  ever  alive  with  the  "fires 
of  creation." 

All  who  realize  liberation  are  endowed  with 
the  power  to  understand  this  symbol.  For 


148  Cosmic  Consciousness 

those  who  have  not  attained  to  this  degree  of 
consciousness,  the  esoteric  meaning  is  necessar- 
ily hidden. 

The  phenomenon  of  the  strange  mystical  light 
which  seems  to  enfold  and  bathe  the  Illumined 
one,  is  concisely  expressed  in  the  case  of  Moses. 

"And  it  came  to  pass,  that  when  Moses  came 
down  from  Mount  Sinai  with  the  tablets  of  the 
testimony  in  hand,  that  Moses  wist  not  that 
the  skin  of  his  face  shone,  or  sent  forth  beams 
by  reason  of  his  speaking  with  Him. 

"And  when  Aaron  and  all  the  children  of 
Israel  saw  Moses  behold!  the  skin  of  his  face 
shone  and  they  were  afraid  to  come  nigh  him." 

Again  we  find  in  the  case  of  Moses,  a  momen- 
tary fear  of  the  phenomenon  which  he  was  ex- 
periencing, in  the  influx  of  light  and  the  sound 
of  the  voice  which  seems  to  accompany  the  light. 

The  interpretation  given  the  words  spoken, 
and  the  identity  of  the  voice  is  ever  dependent 
upon  the  time  and  character  of  the  mind  experi- 
encing the  Illumination. 

Thus  Moses  claims  to  have  heard  the  voice 
of  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  but  the  probabilities 
are,  that  the  "voice"  is  the  mental  operations  of 
the  person  experiencing  the  phenomenon  of 
supra-consciousness,  and  this  interpretation  will 
vary  with  what  Professor  James  calls  the  "his- 
torical determination,"  i.  e.  it  is  dependent  upon 


Moses,  The  Law-Giver  149 

the  age  in  which  the  illumined  one  lived,  and 
upon  the  character  of  the  impressions  previously 
absorbed. 

This  apparent  difference  of  report,  as  to  the 
identity  of  the  "voice,"  is  of  small  import. 

The  salient  point  is  that  each  person  relating 
his  experience  has  heard  a  voice  giving  more 
or  less  explicit  instructions  and  promises. 

In  each  instance  it  has  been  characterized  as 
the  voice  of  the  God  of  their  desire,  and  adora- 
tion. 

Certainly,  whatever  may  be  our  opinions  as  to 
whether  God,  as  we  understand  the  term,  talked 
to  Moses,  giving  him  such  explicit  commands  as 
the  great  leader  afterwards  laid  down  to  his  peo- 
ple accompanied  by  the  insurmountable  barrier 
to  dissent  or  discussion,  "thus  saith  the  Lord," 
we  can  but  admit  that  the  prophet  was  possessed 
of  intellectual  power  far  in  advance  of  his  time, 
and  his  laws  did  indeed,  save  his  people  from  self 
destruction,  through  uncleanliness  and  strife,  and 
dense  ignorance. 

The  ten  commandments  have  been  the  "word 
of  God"  to  all  men  for  lo !  these  many  ages,  and 
even  Jesus  could  but  add  one  other  commandment 
to  those  already  in  use :  "Another  commandment 
give  I  unto  you — that  ye  love  one  another." 

To  sum  up  the  evidences  of  cosmic  conscious- 


150  Cosmic  Consciousness 

ness,  or  Illumination,  as  reported  in  the  case  of 
Moses,  we  find : 

The  experience  of  great  light  as  seen  on  Horeb. 

The  "voice"  which  he  calls  the  voice  of  "The 
Lord." 

The  sudden  and  momentary  fear,  and  humility. 

The  shining  of  his  face  and  form,  as  though 
bathed  in  light. 

The  subsequent  intellectual  superiority  over 
those  of  his  time. 

The  perfect  assurance  and  confidence  of  au- 
thority and  "salvation." 

The  desire  for  solitude,  which  caused  him  to 
die  alone  in  the  vale  of  Moab. 

The  intense  desire  to  uplift  his  people  to  a 
higher  consciousness. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
GAUTAMA— THE  COMPASSIONATE 

Gautama,  prince  of  the  house  of  Siddhartha,  of 
the  Sakya  class,  was  born  in  northern  India  in 
the  township  of  Kapilavastu,  in  the  year  556 
B.  C,  according  to  the  best  authorities,  as  inter- 
preted and  reported  by  Max  Muller. 

The  Japanese  tradition  agrees  with  this,  prac- 
tically, stating  that  O  Shaka  Sama  (signifying 
one  born  of  wisdom  and  love)  was  born  as  a 
Kotai  Si,  crown  prince  of  the  Maghada  country. 

We  have  the  assurance  that  as  a  youth,  Gau- 
tama, like  Jesus,  exhibited  a  serious  mindedness 
and  an  insight  into  matters  spiritual,  which  as- 
tonished and  dumbfounded  his  hearers,  and  the 
sages  who  gave  him  respectful  attention. 

Some  accounts  even  go  so  far  as  to  state  that 
at  the  very  moment  of  his  birth  the  young  prince 
was  able  to  speak,  and  that  his  words  ascended 
"even  to  the  gods  of  the  uppermost  Brahma- 
world." 

Divesting  the  traditions  that  surround  the 
birth  and  early  life  of  the  world's  great  masters, 
of  much  that  has  been  interpolated  by  a  designing 
priesthood,  we  may  yet  conclude  that  a  certain 


152  Cosmic  Consciousness 

seriousness,  and  a  deep  sympathy  with  the  sor- 
rows of  their  fellowmen,  would  naturally  char- 
acterize these  inspired  ones,  even  while  they  were 
still  in  their  early  youth. 

It  is  evident  that  the  young  Prince  Siddhartha 
was  subject  to  meditation  and  that  these  medita- 
tions led  at  times  to  complete  trance. 

It  is  reported  that  one  day  while  out  riding  in 
all  the  pomp  and  accoutrements  of  the  son  of  a 
ruling  king,  he  was  visited  by  an  angel  (a  messen- 
ger from  the  gods  of  Devachan),  and  told  that 
if  he  would  lessen  the  sorrows  of  the  world  that 
he  must  renounce  his  right  to  his  father's  king- 
dom and  go  into  the  jungle,  becoming  a  hermit, 
and  devoting  his  life  to  fasting,  prayer  and  medi- 
tation, in  order  to  fit  himself  for  the  work  of 
preaching  the  "way  of  liberation,"  which  con- 
sisted of,  first  of  all,  to  take  no  life;  be  pure  in 
mind ;  be  as  the  humblest,  which  latter  admonition 
found  little  favor  with  the  world  of  his  personal 
environment  where  caste  was  and  still  is,  a  seem- 
ingly ineradicable  race-thought. 

The  sorrows  of  humanity  weighed  heavily  upon 
his  heart,  and  the  superficialities  of  the  wealthy 
and  ostentatious  court  in  which  he  lived,  irked 
his  outspoken  and  truth-loving  spirit. 

Surrounded,  as  he  was,  by  wealth  and  ease, 
with  time  for  contemplation  and  a  mind  given 
to  philosophic  speculation,  the  young  prince 


Gautama,  The  Compassionate          153 

found  no  sense  of  comfort  or  permanent  satis- 
faction in  his  own  immunity  from  want  and  sor- 
row. He  pondered  long  upon  the  way  to  become 
freed  from  the  "successive  round  of  births  and 
deaths,"  and  thus  pondering,  he  sought  solitude 
in  which  to  find  his  questions  answered. 

Fasting  and  penance  have  ever  been  the  gist  of 
the  instruction  given  to  those  who  would  "find 
the  way  to  God,"  and  so  to  this  end  Gautama 
fasted  and  prayed,  and  practised  self -sacrifice 

But  the  attainment  of  liberation  was  not  easy, 
and  Siddhartha  suffered  long  and  practiced  self- 
mortification  assiduously,  at  length  being  re- 
warded; and  "there  arose  within  him  the  eye  to 
perceive  the  great  and  noble  truths  which  had 
been  handed  down;  the  knowledge  of  their  na- 
ture; the  understanding  of  their  cause;  the  wis- 
dom that  lights  the  true  path ;  the  light  that  ex- 
pels darkness." 

The  terrible  struggle  which  characterized  the 
attainment  of  cosmic  consciousness,  by  so  many  of 
the  sages  and  saviours  of  history,  is,  we  believe, 
due  to  the  fact  that  no  one  individual  may  hope 
to  rise  so  immeasurably  above  the  plane  of  the 
race-consciousness  of  his  day  and  age,  except 
through  intense  and  overwhelming  desire. 

Gautama  abandoned  his  heritage,  his  relatives, 
his  wife  to  whom  he  was  devoted,  and  his  infant 
son,  as  we  have  previously  stated,  not  because 


154  Cosmic  Consciousness 

Illumination  is  purchasable  at  so  terrible  a  price, 
but  because  his  desire  to  know  transcended  all 
other  desires,  and  in  order  to  be  free  from  the 
demands  made  upon  him,  he  must  of  necessity, 
seek  solitude. 

Few  examples  of  the  attainment  of  cosmic 
consciousness  are  as  complete  and  of  such  full- 
ness, as  that  attained  by  Buddha,  and  no  instance 
which  history  affords  has  left  so  great  an  effect 
upon  the  world. 

It  is  estimated  that  at  least  one-third  of  the 
human  race  are  Buddhists.  This  is  not  saying 
that  any  such  number  of  persons  are  like  unto 
Buddha,  nor  do  we  contend  that  this  is  any  evi- 
dence that  his  message  is  greater  or  more  fraught 
with  truth  than  that  of  other  illumined  ones. 

The  intelligent  student  of  occultism  in  all  its 
phases  will  arrive,  sooner  or  later,  at  the  inevit- 
able conclusion  that  all  illumined  souls  have  seen 
and  have  taught  the  same  fundamental  truth. 

Buddha  was  convinced  that  in  The  Absolute, 
or  First  Cause,  there  could  be  no  sin  and  conse- 
quently no  sorrow,  and  he  persistently  sought  to 
inaugurate  such  systems  of  conduct  and  such  a 
standard  of  morals  as  would  lead  the  disciple 
back  to  godhood,  or  liberation  from  the  "wheel 
of  causation." 

To  keep  the  mind  pure  and  clean  was  the  bur- 
den of  his  cry,  well  knowing  that  the  mind  is 


Gautama,  The  Compassionate          155 

the  fertile  field  wherein  illusions  of  sense  con- 
sciousness thrive.  He  says : 

"Mind  is  the  root  (of  evil) ;  actions  proceed 
from  the  mind.  If  anyone  speak  or  act  from  a 
corrupt  mind,  suffering  will  follow,  as  the  dust 
follows  the  rolling  wheel.'* 

That  we  can  not  expect  to  escape  the  result 
of  our  thoughts  and  acts  was  ever  a  doctrine  of 
Buddha,  albeit,  he  seems  also  to  have  sought  to 
make  clear  to  his  disciples,  the  UNREALITY  of 
sin  as  a  part  of  the  indestructable  "First  Cause." 

Many  Buddhist  sects  interpret  the  doctrines  of 
Buddha  to  deny  a  belief  in  a  future  existence,  in 
at  least  as  far  as  identity  is  concerned,  but  this 
conception  is  not  consistent  with  the  most  reliable 
reports,  neither  is  it  in  keeping  with  the  extreme 
peace  and  satisfaction  which  all  illumined  ones 
experience. 

If  extinction  of  identity  were  the  goal  of  Il- 
lumination, it  is  inconceivable  that  the  illumined 
ones  should  report  the  attainment  of  perfect  sat- 
isfaction and  bliss. 

Besides,  it  is  clearly  stated  that  Gautama  told 
his  disciples  that  he  had  already  entered  Nirvana, 
while  yet  in  the  body. 

"My  mind  is  free  from  passions;  is  released 
from  the  follies  of  the  world.  I  have  gained 
the  victory,"  said  Lord  Buddha  to  his  disciple 
Ananda. 


156  Cosmic  Consciousness 

It  is  also  asserted  that  Buddha  appeared  in  his 
own  "glorified  body"  to  his  disciples  after  his 
physical  dissolution,  plainly  indicating  that  far 
from  being  swallowed  up  in  The  Absolute,  he  had 
acquired  godhood  in  his  present  body. 

Detailing  the  advantages  of  a  pure  life,  Buddha 
said  to  his  disciples : 

"The  virtuous  man  rejoices  in  this  world,  and 
he  will  rejoice  in  the  next ;  in  both  worlds  has  he 
joy.  He  rejoices,  he  exults,  seeing  the  purity  of 
his  deed." 

Again,  alluding  to  a  sage  (rahan),  Buddha  is 
reported  to  have  said: 

"He  is  indeed  blest,  having  conquered  all  his 
passions,  and  attained  the  state  of  Nirvana." 

This  alluded  to  the  acquisition  of  Nirvana 
while  still  in  the  physical  body.  In  other  words, 
as  we  of  this  century  understand  the  teaching, 
he  had  experienced  cosmic  consciousness. 

The  modern  version  of  the  commandments  of 
Buddha  are  almost  identical  with  those  of  the 
Christian  creed,  and  these  commandments  are,  as 
we  have  previously  observed,  the  same  that  Moses 
laid  down  for  the  guidance  of  his  people.  That 
they  were  old  before  Moses  was  born,  is  also 
more  than  problematical. 

It  is  also  more  than  probable  that  Buddha  did 
not  personally  write  the  ethical  code  which  we 
now  find  submitted  as  the  "Commandments  of 


Gautama,  The  Compassionate         157 

Buddha,"  but  that  Buddha  merely  emphasized 
them. 

These  commandments  are  not,  however,  under- 
stood, by  the  intelligent  Buddhist  as  "sacred,"  in 
the  sense  that  "God  spoke  unto  Buddha." 

Moses  doubtless  assumed  to  have  been  divinely 
instructed  in  the  law,  although  that  supposition 
may  be  erroneous.  He  may  have  had  in  mind  the 
same  fundamental  idea  which  all  those  expressing 
cosmic  consciousness  have  had,  that  of  being  a 
mouthpiece  of  a  higher  power,  rather  than  to  at- 
tract to  themselves  any  adulation  or  worship,  as 
being  specially  divine. 

The  "Commandments,"  therefore,  as  trans- 
lated and  ascribed  to  modern  Buddhism,  are  an 
ethical  and  moral  code  for  the  MORTAL  con- 
sciousness, rather  than  a  formula  for  developing 
cosmic  consciousness.  These  commandments  arc : 

i — Thou  shalt  kill  no  animal  whatever,  from 
the  meanest  insect  up  to  man. 

2 — Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

$ — Thou  shalt  not  violate  the  wife  of  another. 

4 — Thou  shalt  speak  no  word  that  is  false. 

5 — Thou  shalt  not  drink  wine,  nor  anything 
that  may  intoxicate. 

6 — Thou  shalt  avoid  all  anger,  hatred  and  bit- 
ter language. 

7 — Thou  shalt  not  indulge  in  idle  and  vain 
talk,  but  shall  do  all  for  others. 


158  Cosmic  Consciousness 

8 — Thou  shall  not  covet  thy  neighbors  goods. 

9 — Thou  shalt  not  harbor  envy,  nor  pride,  nor 
revenge,  nor  malice,  nor  the  desire  of  thy  neigh- 
bor's death  or  misfortune. 

10 — Thou  shalt  not  follow  the  doctrines  of 
false  gods. 

And  the  devotee  is  assured,  even  as  in  the 
Christian  creed,  that  "he  who  keeps  these  com- 
mandments, shall  enter  Nirvana — the  rest  of 
Buddha."  But  let  it  be  understood  that  Gautama, 
the  Lord  Buddha,  did  not  formulate  these  com- 
mandments. Neither  are  they  considered  as  in- 
fallible formulae,  by  the  enlightened  Buddhist. 

They  constitute  the  ethical  and  moral  code  of 
the  undeveloped  man  in  all  ages  of  the  world, 
and  among  all  peoples.  They  had  become  tradi- 
tional long  before  Buddha  came  to  interpret  "the 
way  of  the  gods."  But  Gautama,  like  Jesus,  was 
an  evolutionist,  and  not  a  revolutionist.  He  came 
"not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfill,"  and  so  Buddha 
paid  no  attention  to  the  code  of  morals  as  it  stood, 
but  merely  contented  himself  with  emphasizing 
the  importance  of  unselfishness — purity  of  heart 
and  mind,  because  he  realized  that  the  mental 
world  is  the  trap  of  the  soul,  even  as  "the  ele- 
phant is  held  tethered  by  a  galucchi  creeper." 

Buddha  taught  the  way  of  emancipation  of  the 
soul  held  in  bondage  by  means  of  the  illusions 
of  maya,  even  as  the  elephant  is  held  in  captivity 


Gautama,  The  Compassionate          159 

by  so  weak  a  thing  as  a  galucchi  creeper,  which 
could  be  broken  by  a  single  effort. 

That  many  who  keep  the  commandments  are 
yet  a  long  way  from  cosmic  consciousness  must 
be  apparent  to  all.  Therefore  we  are  justified  in 
assuming  that  the  mere  keeping  of  the  com- 
mandments will  not  bring  about  mukti.  Many  a 
man  follows  the  letter  of  the  law,  and  escapes 
prison,  but  if  he  does  this  through  fear  of  pun- 
ishment, and  not  because  of  a  desire  to  main- 
tain peace  that  his  neighbors  may  be  benefited, 
then  he  is  not  keeping  the  spirit  of  the  law  at  all, 
and  his  reward  is  a  negative  one. 

According  to  the  most  reliable  authorities, 
Buddha  died  in  his  eightieth  year,  having  spent 
about  fifty  years  in  preaching,  in  healing  the  sick, 
in  conversing  with  exalted  beings  in  the  heavenly 
worlds,  and  in  leaving  at  will  his  physical  body 
and  visiting  other  worlds. 

Buddha  prophesied  his  coming  dissolution,  and 
expressed  to  his  disciples,  a  hope  that  they  would 
realize  that  he  still  lived,  even  when  his  physical 
body  should  have  become  ashes. 

As  his  last  hour  approached,  Buddha  sum- 
moned his  disciples,  and  after  a  moment's  silent 
meditation,  he  addressed  himself  to  Ananda,  his 
relative,  as  well  as  his  favorite  disciple,  thus : 

"When  I  shall  have  disappeared  from  this 
state  of  existence,  and  be  no  longer  with  you,  do 


160  Cosmic  Consciousness 

not  believe  that  the  Buddha  has  left  you,  and 
ceased  to  dwell  among  you.  Do  not  think  there- 
fore, nor  believe,  that  the  Buddha  has  disap- 
peared, and  is  no  more  with  you." 

From  these  words,  it  is  evident  that  the  state 
of  Nirvana  which  Buddha  assured  his  followers 
that  he  had  already  attained,  did  not  argue  loss 
of  identity,  nor  translation  to  another  planet. 

Nor  is  there  anywhere  in  the  sayings  of 
Buddha,  rightly  interpreted,  any  suggestion  of 
expecting  or  desiring  personal  worship.  This,  the 
great  sage  particularly  avoided,  as  indeed  have  all 
illumined  ones. 

It  is  evident  that  Gautama  the  Buddha  had 
experienced  that  divine  influx  of  light  and  wis- 
dom in  which  he  sought  for  others  the  happiness 
he  had  gained  for  himself,  and  to  this  end  he 
was  eager  to  leave  to  his  friends  and  disciples 
such  rules  of  conduct  of  life  as  should  aid  them 
in  attaining  the  divine  peace  that  comes  from 
illumination. 

But  that  he  founded  a  religious  system  of  wor- 
ship of  himself,  is  wholly  unbelievable  in  the 
light  of  a  study  of  comparative  religions  and  the 
wisdom  which  illumination  confers. 

To  realize  that  one  has  attained  to  immortal- 
ity, and  claimed  his  birthright  of  godhood,  is  not 
synonymous  with  the  claim  to  worship  as  the  one 
eternal  source  of  life. 


Gautama,  The  Compassionate          161 

It  is  a  part  of  human  weakness  to  insist  upon 
idealizing  the  personality  of  a  teacher,  and  this 
tendency  becomes  in  time  merged  into  actual  wor- 
ship, whereas  the  teacher,  if  he  or  she  be  truly  il- 
lumined, seeks  only  to  inculcate  the  philosophy 
which  will  bring  his  faithful  followers  into  a 
realization  of  cosmic  consciousness. 

The  points  which  characterize  the  person  who 
has  experienced  a  degree  of  illumination  (en- 
tered into  cosmic  consciousness),  were  particu- 
larly evident  in  the  life  and  character  of  Gautama, 
the  Buddha.  They  may  be  summed  up  thus: 

A  marked  seriousness  in  youth. 

A  great  sympathy  and  compassion  with  the 
sorrows  of  others. 

A  deep  tenderness  for  all  forms  of  life. 

A  realization  of  the  nothingness  of  caste  and 
pomp  and  power. 

The  firm  conviction  that  he  was  instructed  by 
angels. 

The  wonderful  magnetism  and  illumination  of 
his  person. 

The  firm  conviction  of  immortality — released 
from  the  "wheel  of  life"  as  he  expressed  it. 

The  knowledge  of  when  and  where  he  was  to 
pass  out  from  the  life  of  the  body. 

The  love  of  solitude  and  meditation.  The  in- 
tellectual power  maintained  even  into  old  age. 

The  unselfish  desire  to  help  others. 


1 62  Cosmic  Consciousness 

Great  and  never-failing  sympathy  with  suf- 
fering, a  divine  patience,  and  insight  into  the 
hearts  of  all  forms  of  life,  earned  for  this  great 
soul  the  name  "Buddha The  Compassionate." 


CHAPTER  IX 
JESUS  OF  NAZARETH 

Turning  now  to  the  next  in  order  of  the  world's 
great  masters,  or  illumined  ones,  we  come  to  a 
consideration  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  in  whose 
name  the  great  moral  system  of  religion,  called 
"Christianity,"  is  promulgated. 

It  has  been  conclusively  shown  that  the  essen- 
tial features  of  the  present-day  system  of  re- 
ligion, known  as  Christianity,  were  instituted  by 
Paul  rather  than  by  Jesus,  and  that  the  system 
itself,  like  Buddhism,  is  the  work  of  the  follow- 
ers of  the  great  teacher,  rather  than  that  of  the 
Master. 

Our  present  concern,  however,  is  not  with  the 
system  or  method  of  the  church,  but  with  those 
historic  facts  which  bear  upon  the  question  of 
the  Illumination  of  Jesus,  classifying  Him,  not 
as  an  incarnate  son  of  God,  in  the  accepted  the- 
ological interpretation,  but  in  the  light  of  cosmic 
consciousness. 

Jesus  the  Christ  was  born,  according  to  the 
most  reliable  authorities,  about  six  hundred  years 
after  Gautama,  the  Buddha. 

Whether  or  not  the  Nazarene  was  familiar  with 
163 


164  Cosmic  Consciousness 

the  Buddhist  doctrines  or  whether  He  spent  the 
years  of  His  life  which  are  shrouded  in  mystery, 
in  the  inner  temples  of  either  Thibet,  India,  Per- 
sia, China,  or  other  oriental  country,  will  doubt- 
less always  be  a  disputed  point  among  controver- 
salists. 

The  fact  does  not  matter,  either  way. 

There  is  an  encouraging  similarity  in  the  fun- 
damentals of  all  religious  precepts,  arguing  that 
when  a  teacher  is  really  inspired,  the  truth  makes 
friends  with  him  or  her. 

Some  writers  on  the  subject  of  Illumination 
give  exact  dates  when  the  flash  of  cosmic  con- 
sciousness came  to  the  various  teachers  of  the 
world,  but  these  dates  are  problematical,  and  they 
are  also  inconsequential. 

That  Jesus  was  among  those  historic  characters 
who  had  attained  cosmic  consciousness,  there  can 
be  no  possible  doubt,  even  though  his  exact  words 
will  be  disputed. 

Enough  has  come  down  to  us  through  the  ages 
to  prove  the  fact  that  Jesus  knew  and  taught  the 
illusory  character  of  external  life  (niaya)  and 
that  he  was  himself  absolutely  certain  of  the 
"kingdom  within,"  which  he  admonished  his 
hearers  to  seek,  rather  than  to  live  so  much  in  the 
external.  This  he  did  because  he  well  knew  that 
constant  dwelling  in  the  external  consciousness 
led  not  to  liberation. 


Jesus  of  Nazareth  165 

The  light  within,  was  the  substance  of  his  cry, 
and  that  light,  when  perceived,  leads  to  illumina- 
tion of  everything1,  both  the  within  and  the 
without. 

The  transfiguration  of  Jesus  was  undoubtedly 
the  effect  of  his  being  in  a  supra-conscious  state, 
a  state  of  exaltation,  in  which  many  mystics  enter 
at  more  or  less  frequent  intervals,  according  to 
their  mode  of  life,  and  their  objective  environ- 
ment. 

"And  he  was  transfigured  before  them;  and 
his  garments  became  exceedingly  white,"  we  are 
told  in  the  gospels,  and  there  are  many  persons  in 
the  world  today  possessing  the  power  of  the  inner 
or  clairvoyant  vision  (not  identical  with  cosmic 
consciousness),  who  have  witnessed  similar  phe- 
nomena. 

In  the  "Sermon  on  the  Mount,"  we  find  that 
Jesus  spoke  with  such  certainty  and  such  author- 
ity, as  one  who  had  experienced  the  very  essence 
of  the  cosmic  conscious  state,  and  was  already 
freed  from  the  illusions  of  the  senses.  His 
words,  like  those  of  all  who  have  sought  to  give 
directions  and  instructions  for  the  attainment  of 
freedom  from  externality,  are  capable  of  inter- 
pretation in  various  ways,  according  to  the  de- 
gree of  consciousness  of  the  age  in  which  the 
interpretations  have  been  made. 

For  example,  we  find  these  words  of  Jesus 


1 66  Cosmic  Consciousness 

given  different  meanings,  and  in  fact,  there  have 
been  many  and  diverse  discussions  and  conclu- 
sions as  to  exactly  what  the  Master  did  mean 
by  them : 

"Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs  is 
the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

Let  us  examine  the  phrase,  and  see  if  it  accords 
with  our  ideas  of  cosmic  consciousness.  To  be 
"poor  in  spirit,"  is  not  consistent  with  our  under- 
standing of  the  requirements  for  the  expansion 
of  the  soul. 

Those  who  take  this  phrase  literally,  and  who 
are  opposed  to  religious  concepts,  as  a  factor  in 
human  betterment,  are  fond  of  using  this  phrase 
as  an  evidence  of  the  fanatacism  of  Jesus,  and  his 
concurrence  in  the  worldly  habit  of  exploiting  the 
poor,  and  "riding  the  backs  of  the  wage  slaves," 
as  our  Socialist  brothers  put  it. 

Now  let  us,  for  a  moment,  consider  the  phrase 
as  a  person  who  possessed  cosmic  consciousness 
would  have  said  it. 

One  possessing  the  cosmic  sense,  viewing  the 
external  more  as  a  trap  of  the  senses,  than  as 
realities,  would  readily  perceive  that  to  amass 
wealth  (external  possessions),  the  mind  must  be 
in  harmony  with  the  methods  and  the  ideals  of 
the  world,  rather  than  that  it  should  be  concen- 
trated upon  the  "things  of  the  spirit." 

This  idea  is  expressed  in  the  phrase,  "no  man 


Jesus  of  Nazareth  167 

can  serve  two  masters,"  and  while  we  are  not 
prepared  to  say  that  the  possession  of  worldly 
goods  is  absolutely  impossible  to  the  attainment 
of  cosmic  consciousness — observation,  reflection, 
and  intuition  will  unite  in  the  conclusion  that 
they  are  more  or  less  improbable. 

If  then,  we  will  interpret  these  sayings  of  Jesus 
in  the  light  of  a  broader  outlook  than  was  pos- 
sible to  the  understanding  of  his  chroniclers,  we 
will  find  that  what  he  doubtless  said  was : 

"Blessed  in  spirit  are  the  poor,  for  theirs  shall 
be  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

And  in  his  vision,  which  extended  beyond  the 
times  in  which  he  lived,  and  foresaw  that  the  at- 
tainment of  cosmic  consciousness  must  involve  a 
degree  of  physical  hardship,  he  said: 

"Blessed  are  they  that  have  been  persecuted 
for  righteousness'  sake,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom 
of  heaven." 

A  survey  of  the  world's  progress  will  readily 
prove  the  fact  that  those  who  have  bent  their 
talents  and  their  energies  toward  the  uplift  of 
the  race,  have  done  so  under  great  stress,  and  in 
the  face  of  persistent  opposition. 

This  opposition  is  an  accompaniment  to  altru- 
istic effort,  for  me  very  obvious  reason  that  the 
race-thought  of  the  world  is  still  materialistic. 

The  thoughts  that  predominate  are  commer- 
cial, This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  those  who  are 


j 68  Cosmic  Consciousness 

wealthy  have  large  financial  interests  to  main- 
tain ;  business  problems  to  solve ;  that  take  about 
all  their  time.  The  poor  find  the  maintenance  of 
physical  existence  a  task  that  absorbs  the  greater 
part  of  their  mortal  mind,  and  therefore,  those 
who  are  devoting  their  time  and  talents  to  the 
work  of  regeneration  (the  coming  of  the  cosmic 
sense),  are  necessarily  in  the  minority,  and  the 
majority  rules  in  thought,  as  in  act. 

The  present  metaphysical  movement  lays  great 
stress  upon  worldly  success  and  "attraction"  of 
wealth,  as  an  evidence  of  possession  of  power  and 
truth,  but  the  law  of  equation  proves  that  we 
obtain  that  which  we  most  desire.  A  religious 
system  which  amasses  great  wealth  in  a  short 
time  does  so,  only  because  its  dominant  teaching 
inspires  the  desire  for  worldly  advancement,  as 
the  prime  requisite. 

The  same  is  true  of  an  individual,  as  of  a 
system. 

Not  that  the  attainment  of  cosmic  conscious- 
ness is  absolutely  impossible  to  a  rich  man,  be- 
cause a  man  may  inherit  riches  and  position  and 
power,  as  in  the  case  of  Prince  Siddhartha,  the 
Lord  Buddha ;  or  he  may  have  set  in  motion  cer- 
tain currents  of  desire  for  wealth,  and  later  in 
life  may  change  that  desire,  when  naturally,  the 
"business"  he  has  created  will  follow  the  law 


Jesus  of  Nazareth  169 

which  instigated  it,  and  increasing  wealth  will 
result. 

But,  let  it  be  known,  that  Buddha  renounced 
all  his  possessions,  and  there  are  many  instances 
today  of  renunciation  of  worldly  life  and  wealth, 
in  order  to  attain  to  that  supreme  consciousness 
in  which  the  illumined  one  possesses  all  that  he 
desires,  even  though  he  have  but  one  coat  to  his 
back. 

Let  it  not  be  thought  that  we  mean  to  infer 
that  God  is  partial  to  poverty,  and  that  the  rich 
man  will  be  excluded  from  the  attainment  of  the 
kingdom,  merely  because  of  his  riches;  but  if 
riches  be  any  man's  aim,  then  assuredly  he  cannot 
"serve  two  masters"  and  it  will  not  be  possible 
for  him  to  become  illumined  while  in  pursuit  of 
worldly  goods. 

Jesus  said: 

"It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the 
needle's  eye,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the 
kingdom  of  heaven." 

It  is  now  thoroughly  established  that  the 
"Needle's  Eye"  was  the  name  given  to  a  certain 
narrow  and  difficult  pass  through  which  camels 
bearing  heavy  burdens,  could  not  find  room  to 
pass,  and  Jesus  sought  to  convey  to  his  hearers 
the  truth  that  persons  bearing  in  their  mental  de- 
sires the  load  of  many  possessions,  would  hardly 
find  room  for  the  one  supreme  desire  which  would 


170  Cosmic  Consciousness 

bring  them  into  the  kingdom  (the  possession  of 
cosmic  consciousness). 

But  the  most  significant  of  the  utterances  of 
the  illumined  Nazarene  is  the  one  in  which  he 
said: 

"Except  ye  become  as  little  children,  ye  can  in 
no  wise  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

The  possession  of  cosmic  consciousness  brings 
with  it,  invariably,  the  simplicity,  the  faith  and 
innocence  of  a  little  child.  The  child  is  pleased 
with  natural  pleasures,  and  does  not  know  the 
worldly  standard  of  valuation.  And  above  all, 
the  soul,  while  still  attached  to  the  physical  body, 
is  like  a  little  child. 

The  attainment  of  cosmic  consciousness  is  pos- 
sible only  to  one  who  has  first  "got  acquainted 
with  his  soul" ;  when  we  are  really  soul-conscious 
we  possess  the  innocence  (not  ignorance),  of  a 
little  child,  and  we  also  possess  a  child's  wisdom. 
We  are,  in  other  words,  "as  wise  as  the  serpent 
and  as  harmless  as  the  dove."  Wisdom  brings 
with  it  harmlessness.  The  truly  wise  person 
would  not  wilfully  harm  any  living  thing;  wisdom 
knows  no  revenge;  no  "eye  for  an  eye"  philoso- 
phy; makes  no  demands. 

And  what  may  be  considered  the  second  most 
significant  remark  of  the  Master  is  this: 

"The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  obser- 
vation ;  neither  shall  they  say  Lo,  here ;  or  Lo, 


Jesus  of  Nazareth  171 

there,  for  Lo,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within 
you." 

Jesus,  although  forced  by  the  conventions  of 
the  time  in  which  he  taught  to  conform  to  the 
laws  laid  down  by  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  in- 
fluenced by  the  strict  views  of  the  Israelites,  who 
honored  the  law  laid  down  by  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  still  possessed  cosmic  consciousness  to 
such  an  extent  that  he  knew  the  folly  of  judging 
others  by  outward  appearance,  and  also  of  prom- 
ising them  cosmic  consciousness  in  return  for 
obedience  to  prescribed  rules  or  commandments. 

When  it  would  seem  to  his  critics  that  he  did 
not  sufficiently  emphasize  the  traditional  laws, 
that  he  was  seemingly  making  it  too  simple  and 
too  easy  for  people  to  live,  they  sought  to  trap 
him  into  a  statement  that  would  oppose  the  ac- 
cepted commandments. 

But  this  Jesus  steadfastly  refused  to  do.  "I 
came  not  to  destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfill  it,"  he 
said. 

Like  all  those  who  have  experienced  cosmic 
consciousness,  his  policy  was  one  of  construc- 
tion, and  not  of  destruction.  Evolution  accom- 
plishes peacefully  what  revolution  seeks  to  do  by 
force. 

Jesus  laid  little  stress  upon  the  commandments 
as  they  stood.  He  neither  sought  to  emphasize 
them,  nor  to  criticise  them.  All  that  he  said  was : 


172  Cosmic  Consciousness 

"A  new  commandment  give  I  unto  you:  that 
ye  love  one  another." 

All  truly  illumined  minds  have  made  love  the 
basis  of  their  teaching,  well  knowing  that  where 
true  love  reigns  there  can  be  no  destruction. 

Love  conquers  fear — the  arch-enemy  of  man- 
kind. 

Love  makes  it  impossible  to  harm  the  thing 
loved,  and  universal  love  would  make  it  impos- 
sible, for  one  experiencing  it,  to  consciously  bring 
the  slightest  pain  to  any  living  thing. 

Therefore  Jesus  taught  repeatedly  the  doctrine 
of  love,  and  he  made  no  new  commandments 
other  than  this. 

It  has  been  said  that  inasmuch  as  Jesus  laid 
greater  emphasis  upon  this  one  great  need  than 
had  any  previous  inspired  teacher,  he  deserves 
greater  honor. 

Theologians  whose  purpose  it  is  to  promulgate 
the  doctrine  of  Christianity  as  superior  to  others, 
use  this  argument  in  support  of  their  contention 
that  Jesus  was  the  only  true  son  of  God. 

But  this  view  will  be  recognized  as  prejudiced, 
and  lacking  in  the  very  essentials  taught  and 
practiced  by  the  Christ. 

In  the  light  of  Illumination,  it  will  readily  be 
perceived  that  all  persons  expressing  any  con- 
siderable degree  of  cosmic  consciousness,  have 


Jesus  of  Nazareth  173 

taught  the  same  fundamental  and  simple  truths, 
as  witness  the  following: 

Do  as  you  would  be  done  by. — Persian. 

Do  not  that  to  a  neighbor  which  you  would 
take  ill  from  him. — Grecian. 

What  you  would  not  wish  done  to  yourself,  do 
not  unto  others. — Chinese. 

One  should  seek  for  others  the  happiness  one 
desires  for  oneself. — Buddhist. 

He  sought  for  others  the  good  he  desired  for 
himself.  Let  him  pass  on. — Egyptian. 

All  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  to  you,  do  you  even  so  to  them. — 
Christian. 

Let  none  of  you  treat  his  brother  in  a  way 
he  himself  would  dislike  to  be  treated. — Moham- 
medan. 

The  true  rule  in  life  is  to  guard  and  do  by  the 
things  of  others  as  they  do  by  their  own. — Hindu. 

The  law  imprinted  on  the  hearts  of  all  men  is 
to  love  the  members  of  society  as  themselves. — 
Roman. 

Whatsoever  you  do  not  wish  your  neighbor  to 
do  to  you,  do  not  unto  him.  This  is  the  whole 
law.  The  rest  is  a  mere  exposition  of  it. — Jewish. 

While  it  is  probable  that  Jesus  gave  no  direc- 
tions or  methods  of  attainment,  yet  the  records 
of  his  sayings  give  the  clue  to  the  character  of 
his  instruction  to  those  of  his  students  who  were 


174  Cosmic  Consciousness 

capable  of  understanding,  particularly  as  shown 
in  a  recently  discovered  papyrus,  authentically 
identified  as  belonging  to  the  early  Christians. 
This  papyrus  was  discovered  by  Egyptian  ex- 
plorers in  1904.  Although  the  papyrus  was  more 
or  less  mutilated,  the  meaning  is  sufficiently  clear 
to  justify  the  translators  in  inserting  certain 
words.  However,  we  will  here  quote  only  such 
of  the  "sayings"  as  were  decipherable,  without 
having  anything  supplied  by  translators. 

Evidently  having  been  asked  when  his  kingdom 
should  be  realized  on  earth  he  answered: 

"When  ye  return  to  the  state  of  innocence 
which  existed  before  the  fall"  (i.  e.,  when  mani- 
festation will  be  perceived  in  its  illusory  charac- 
ter, and  the  soul  freed  from  the  enchantment  of 
the  mortal  consciousness). 

"I  am  come  to  end  the  sacrifices  and  if  ye  cease 
not  from  sacrificing,  the  wrath  shall  not  cease 
from  you." 

This  evidently  corresponds  to  his  saying, 
"They  who  use  the  sword,  shall  perish  by  the 
sword." 

The  conclusion  is  obvious  that  hate  and  de- 
struction beget  their  kind,  and  that  love  is  the 
only  power  that  can  prevent  the  continuation  of 
destruction.  This  may  with  equal  logic,  be  ap- 
plied to  the  sacrifice  of  animal  and  bird  life  for 


Jesus  of  Nazareth  175 

food,  as  well  as  the  sacrifices  of  blood  whicn 
formed  a  part  of  ancient  ritual. 

His  disciples  said  unto  him: 

"When  will  thou  be  manifest  to  us,  and  when 
shall  we  see  thee  ?" 

He  saith: 

"When  ye  shall  be  stripped  and  not  be 
ashamed." 

The  time  is  near  at  hand,  when  the  body  will 
not  be  regarded  as  something  vile  and  unworthy ; 
something  of  which  to  be  ashamed  and  to  keep 
covered,  as  if  God's  handiwork  \vere  vile. 

In  fact,  the  function  of  sex,  from  the  extreme 
of  ancient  sex  worship  to  the  present  extreme  of 
sex  degradation,  shall  soon  be  established  in  its 
rightful  place.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  book 
to  deal  with  this  important  subject,  so  we  will  say 
no  more  here. 

Nevertheless,  this  saying  attributed  to  Jesus, 
the  Christ,  resurrected  as  it  has  been  in  this  cen- 
tury, is  timely.  It  is  almost  universally  conceded 
that  the  time  of  the  "Second  Coming  of  Christ" 
is  already  at  hand.  Just  what  this  second  coming 
means,  is  interpreted  differently  by  theologians, 
philosophers,  scientists,  poets  and  prophets,  but 
there  is  a  unanimous  belief  that  the  time  is  here 
and  now. 

Those  who  have  the  comprehension  to  read 
the  signs  of  the  times,  are  cheerfully  expectant 


176  Cosmic  Consciousness 

of  radical  changes  in  our  attitude  toward  the 
function  of  sex  and  the  divinity  of  love. 

"When  the  two  shall  be  one,  and  the  outside 
as  the  inside,  and  the  male  as  the  female,  neither 
male  nor  female — these  things  if  ye  do,  the  king- 
dom of  My  Father  shall  come." 

Again,  the  meaning  of  these  words  depends 
upon  the  degree  of  illumination  of  the  person 
reading  them.  They  mean  the  present  inevitable 
equality  of  the  sexes,  when  each  individual  will 
count  not  as  a  mere  man  or  a  mere  woman,  but 
as  an  important  factor  in  the  world's  redemption. 
Or,  it  will  appeal  to  a  few  as  the  promised  time 
when  every  soul  which  has  completed  the  circle, 
ended  its  karma,  and  claimed  its  god-hood,  unites 
with  the  soul  of  its  mate,  the  two  blending  into 
one  perfect  whole — the  Father-Mother  God  of 
the  New  Dispensation. 

Again  we  find  in  these  newly  discovered  papyri 
a  phrase  bearing  upon  this  subject: 

To  the  question  of  Salome : 

"How  long  shall  death  reign?"  The  Lord 
answered : 

"As  long  as  ye  women  give  birth.  For  I  am 
come  to  make  an  end  to  the  works  of  the  woman." 

Then  Salome  said  to  him : 

"Then  have  I  done  well  that  I  have  not  given 
birth?" 

To  this  the  Lord  replied : 


Jesus  of  Naeareth  177 

"Eat  of  every  herb,  but  of  the  bitter  one  eat 
not." 

When  Salome  asked  when  it  shall  be  known 
what  she  asked,  the  Lord  said: 

"When  you  tread  under  foot  the  covering  of 
shame,  and  when  two  is  made  one,  and  the  male 
with  the  female,  neither  male  nor  female." 

"Howbeit,  he  who  longs  to  be  rich  is  like  a 
man  who  drinketh  sea  water :  the  more  he  drink- 
eth  the  more  thirsty  he  becomes,  and  never  leaves 
off  drinking  till  he  perish." 

"Blessed  is  he  who  also  fasts  that  he  may  feed 
the  poor,  for  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to 
receive." 

"Let  thy  alms  sweat  in  thy  hand  until  thou 
knowest  to  whom  thou  givest." 

It  is  not  probable  that  any  one  who  reads  these 
words  will  make  the  mistake  of  assuming  that 
Jesus  advised  us  to  inquire  into  the  character  or 
the  antecedents  of  the  one  on  whom  we  are  to 
bestow  a  gift.  Neither  are  we  expected  to  ascer- 
tain whether  he  belongs  to  our  "lodge"  or  not. 

If  you  give  alms  as  though  to  an  inferior;  if 
you  assume  a  self-righteous  mind;  if  you  give 
for  hope  of  reward ;  then  withhold  your  gift.  In 
fact,  unless  you  can  realize  that  you  are  giving 
as  though  to  yourself,  keep  your  gift.  It  will  do 
neither  you  nor  the  one  receiving  it,  any  good 
whatsoever. 


178  Cosmic  Consciousness 

"Good  things  must  come.  He  is  blessed 
through  whom  they  come." 

This  presages  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of 
love  on  earth,  as  a  foregone  conclusion.  Yet, 
those  who  lend  themselves  consciously,  as  serv- 
ants of  the  cause — helpers  in  the  establishment  of 
the  new  order — are  blessed. 

"Love  covereth  a  multitude  of  sins,  so  be  not 
joyful  save  when  you  look  upon  your  brother's 
countenance  in  love." 

"Let  not  the  sun  go  down  upon  your  wrath, 
for  the  greatest  of  crimes  is  this:  if  a  man  shall 
sadden  his  brother's  spirit." 

"For  our  possessions  are  in  heaven ;  therefore, 
sons  of  men,  purchase  unto  yourselves  by  these 
transitory  things  which  are  not  yours,  what  is 
yours,  and  shall  not  pass  away." 

For  the  Lord  has  said  in  a  mystery:  "Unless 
ye  make  the  right  as  the  left ;  the  left  as  the  right ; 
the  top  as  the  bottom;  and  the  front  as  the 
backward,  ye  shall  not  know  the  kingdom  of 
God." 

"Keep  the  flesh  holy  and  the  seal  undefiled,  that 
ye  may  receive  eternal  life." 

"If  a  man  shall  sadden  his  brother's  spirit." 
This  indeed  is  the  greatest  of  all  crimes,  because 
out  of  man's  inhumanity  to  man  springs  all  the 
sin  and  sorrow  of  the  world. 

"Unless  ye  make  the  right  as  the  left ;  the  top 


Jesus  of  Nazareth  179 

as  the  bottom;  the  front  as  the  backward."  The 
meaning  should  be  clear  enough  and  the  words 
are  worthy  of  the  illumined  mind  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth. 

The  great  sin  is  separation;  segregation;  "My 
and  mine"  as  opposed  to  "Thee  and  thine."  To 
the  truly  illumined  one  there  can  be  no  "mine," 
as  distinct  from  another's. 

The  sinner  is  no  less  my  brother  than  is  the 
saint.  The  beggar  is  as  dear  to  me  as  is  the  rich 
man.  Every  man  is  a  king.  There  are  no 
"chosen  of  God"  to  the  one  who  has  entered 
cosmic  consciousness. 

"For  our  possessions  are  in  heaven.  Use, 
therefore,  the  things  of  earth,  while  ye  are  living 
in  the  flesh  (sons  of  men),  in  such  a  way  and 
to  such  purpose  that  they  \vill  not  enchain  you  in 
the  maze  of  manifestation,  and  thereby  require 
that  you  postpone  your  claim  to  immortality." 

This  statement  is  distinct  enough,  as  is  also  the 
one:  "He  who  longs  to  be  rich  is  like  a  man 
drinking  sea  water.  The  more  he  drinketh,  the 
more  thirsty  he  becomes  and  never  leaves  off 
drinking  until  he  perisheth." 

The  hypnotism  of  the  external  world  is  too 
well  illustrated  to  need  further  comment.  The 
man  who  enters  upon  the  pursuit  of  worldly 
possessions;  temporal  power;  personal  ambition; 
thinking  that  when  he  shall  have  attained  all 
these,  then  will  he  turn  to  the  solution  of  the 


180  Cosmic  Consciousness 

mystery  of  mysteries,  finds  himself  caught  in  the 
trap  of  his  desires,  and  he  can  not  escape.  He  is 
under  the  spell  of  enchantment,  wherein  the  un- 
real appears  as  real,  and  the  real  becomes  the 
illusory. 

To  sum  up,  the  fragmentary  accounts  we  have 
of  the  life  and  character  of  the  man  Jesus  are 
conclusive  proof  that  he  had  entered  into  full 
realization  of  cosmic  consciousness. 

Like  Lord  Gautama,  he  appeared  to  his  dis- 
ciples after  he  had  left  the  physical  body,  "glo- 
rified," as  one  who  had  taken  on  immortality. 

Nor  was  there  ever,  it  would  appear,  any  doubt 
in  the  mind  of  Jesus,  of  his  right  to  godhood, 
while  retaining,  also,  his  self -consciousness. 

The  intellectual  superiority. 

The  wonderful  spiritual  magnetism  and  attrac- 
tion of  his  presence. 

The  absolute,  unwavering  conviction  of  his 
mission,  and  of  his  immortality. 

The  transfiguration,  after  his  "temptation"  and 
his  prophetic  vision. 

His  great  love  and  compassion  for  even  his 
enemies. 

These  are  what  made  him  indeed  a  Christ. 

The  term  "Christ"  and  the  term  "Buddha" 
are  synonymous.  They  both  mean  one  who  has 
entered  into  his  godhood.  One  who  has  attained 
to  cosmic  consciousness,  leaving  forever  the  lim- 
itations of  the  lower  self. 


CHAPTER  X 
PAUL  OF  TARSUS 

The  system  of  worship  known  as  Christianity 
owes  its  systematic  foundation  to  Paul  of  Tarsus. 
Paul's  sudden  conversion  from  zealous  persecu- 
tion of  the  followers  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to 
an  equally  zealous  propaganda  of  the  gospel  of 
Light,  offers  a  perfect  example  of  the  peculiar 
oncoming  of  cosmic  consciousness. 

Paul  evidently  occupied  a  position  of  authority 
among  the  Jews  and  it  is  equally  probable  that 
he  was  near  the  same  age  as  Jesus,  as  he  is  re- 
ferred to  as  a  "young  man  named  Saul"  in  Bible 
accounts  of  the  persecution  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians. His  illumination  occurred  shortly  after 
the  crucifixion,  probably  within  two  or  three 
years. 

In  Acts,  chapter  8-9,  we  read : 

"And  Saul  was  consenting  unto  his  death 
(Stephen).  And  at  that  time  there  was  a  great 
persecution  against  the  church  which  was  at  Je- 
rusalem and  they  were  all  scattered  abroad 
throughout  the  regions  of  Judea,  and  Samaria, 
except  the  apostles. 

"And    devout   men    carried    Stephen   to   his 
burial,  and  made  great  lamentation  over  him. 
181 


1 82  Cosmic  Consciousness 

"As  for  Saul,  he  made  havoc  of  the  church,  en- 
tering into  every  house,  and  hailing  men  and 
women,  committed  them  to  prison. 

"And  Saul,  yet  breathing  out  threatenings,  and 
slaughter  against  the  disciples  of  the  Lord,  went 
unto  the  high  priest  and  desired  of  him  letters 
to  Damascus  to  the  synagogues,  that  if  he  found 
any  of  this  way,  whether  they  were  men  or 
women,  he  might  bring  them  bound,  unto  Jeru- 
salem. 'i'f'-<ZL^r  |>r-*>~r-U~  ^  *^ 

"And  as  he  journeyed  he  came  near  unto  Da- 
mascus, and  suddenly  there  shone  round  about 
him  a  light  from  heaven. 

"And  he  fell  to  the  earth  and  heard  a  voice 
saying  unto  him:  'Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest 
thou  me?' 

"And  he  said:  'Who  art  thou,  Lord?'  And 
the  Lord  said:  'I  am  Jesus,  whom  thou  perse- 
cutest;  it  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the 
pricks.' 

"And  he  trembling  and  astonished,  said :  'Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  do?' 

"And  the  Lord  said  unto  him :  'Arise  and  go 
into  the  city,  and  it  shall  be  told  thee  what  thou 
must  do.' 

"And  the  men  which  journeyed  with  him  stood 
speechless,  hearing  a  voice  but  seeing  no  man. 

"And  Saul  arose  from  the  earth,  and  when  his 


Paul  of  Tarsus  183 

eyes  were  opened  he  saw  no  man;  but  they  led 
him  by  the  hand  and  brought  him  into  Damascus. 

"And  he  was  three  days  without  sight  and 
neither  did  eat  nor  drink. 

"And  there  was  a  certain  disciple  at  Damascus, 
named  Ananias,  and  to  him  said  the  Lord  in  a 
vision :  'Ananias ;'  and  he  said :  'Lord,  behold, 
I  am  here.'  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him :  'Arise 
and  go  into  the  street  called  Straight,  and  en- 
quire in  the  house  of  Judas  for  one  called  Saul 
of  Tarsus;  for  behold,  he  prayeth.  And  hath 
seen  in  a  vision  a  man  named  Ananias  coming 
in  and  putting  his  hand  on  him  that  he  might 
receive  his  sight.'  Then  Ananias  answered: 
'Lord,  I  have  heard  by  many  of  this  man,  how 
much  evil  he  hath  done  by  thy  saints  at  Jerusa- 
lem. And  here  he  hath  authority  from  the  high 
priests  to  bind  all  that  call  on  thy  name.'  But 
the  Lord  said  unto  him:  'Go  thy  way;  for  he 
is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me,  to  bear  my  name  be- 
fore the  Gentiles,  and  kings,  and  children  of 
Israel.  For  I  will  show  him  how  great  things  he 
must  suffer  for  my  name's  sake.' 

"And  Ananias  went  his  way,  and  entered  into 
the  house;  and  putting  his  hands  on  him,  said: 
'Brother  Saul,  the  Lord,  even  Jesus,  that  appeared 
unto  thee  in  the  way  as  thou  earnest,  hath  sent  me, 
that  thou  mightest  receive  thy  sight,  and  be 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost.'  And  immediately 


184  Cosmic  Consciousness 

there  fell  from  his  eyes,  as  it  had  been  scales; 
and  he  received  sight  forthwith,  and  arose  and 
was  baptized." 

Like  all  those  who  have  entered  cosmic  con- 
sciousness, Paul  sought  the  blessing  of  solitude, 
that  he  might  readjust  himself  to  his  changed 
viewpoint,  since  he  now  saw  things  in  the  light 
of  the  larger  consciousness. 

He  says: 

"Immediately  I  conferred,  not  with  flesh  and 
blood;  neither  went  I  up  to  Jerusalem  to  them 
which  were  apostles  before  me ;  but  I  went  away 
into  Arabia;  and  again  I  returned  unto  Da- 
mascus." 

The  irresistible  longing  to  get  away  from  the 
sights  and  sounds  of  the  external  world,  is  one 
of  the  most  characteristic  phases  of  Illumination. 
It  is  only  in  order  that  they  may  take  up  the  work 
of  bringing  to  others  this  great  blessing  that 
those  who  have  entered  into  the  larger  conscious- 
ness, eventually  bring  themselves  to  enter  the  life 
of  the  world. 

Thus,  we  find  that  Paul's  great  desire  to  bring 
the  light  to  others,  took  him  again  to  Damascus ; 
and  from  the  records  we  have  of  his  utterances 
and  his  mode  of  living,  we  may  gather  some  idea 
of  the  great  change  which  Illumination  made  in 
him. 

Certain  statements,  which  characterize  all  who 


Paul  of  Tarsus  185 

possess  cosmic  consciousness,  in  any  degree  of 
fullness,  emanate  from  the  converted  Paul.  He 
says: 

"I  must  needs  glory  though  it  is  not  expedient, 
but  I  will  come  to  visions  and  revelations  of  the 
Lord — for  if  I  should  desire  to  glory  I  shall  not 
be  foolish ;  for  I  shall  speak  the  truth ;  but  I  for- 
bear, lest  any  man  should  account  of  me  above 
that  which  he  seeth  me  to  be,  or  heareth  from 
me.  And  by  reason  of  the  exceeding  greatness 
of  the  revelations — wherefore  that  I  should  not 
be  exalted  overmuch,  there  was  given  to  me  a 
thorn  in  the  flesh,  a  messenger  of  Satan  to 
buffet  me." 

"One  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Illumined 
is  a  deep  humility.  This  is  not  in  any  sense  an 
abasement  of  the  self;  not  in  any  sense  a  feeling 
that  it  is  necessary  to  "bow  down  and  worship ;" 
nor  yet  a  tinge  of  that  nameless  fear,  which  the 
carnal-minded  self  feels  in  the  presence  of  ex- 
alted beings. 

It  is  a  humility  born  of  the  desire  to  make 
every  one  know  and  feel  a  sense  of  kinship 
with  him ;  he  hesitates  to  reveal  all  that  has  been 
revealed  to  him,  lest  those  who  hear  his  words 
may  think  he  is  either  "speaking  foolishly," 
through  egotism,  or  else  that  they  may  look  upon 
him  as  a  being  superior,  more  exalted,  than  them- 
selves. And  a  divine  compassion  and  love  for 


1 86  Cosmic  Consciousness 

his  fellow  being  characterizes  the  Illumined. 
Again,  Paul  wishes  to  make  clear  the  fact  that  he 
is  still  living  in  the  physical  body;  living  the  life 
of  a  body,  and  until  liberated  from  the  condi- 
tions that  influence  the  external  world,  he  is  him- 
self subject  to  the  lesser  consciousness,  and  he 
does  not  want  them  to  expect  more  of  the  per- 
sonal self,  than  that  personal  self  is  capable  of, 
under  the  conditions  in  which  he  lives. 

He  desires  no  personal  exaltation,  or  praise, 
therefore  he  hesitates  to  speak  fully  of  his  own 
revelations,  but  prefers  to  teach  by  reference  to 
the  experiences  of  others. 

Nevertheless,  he  tries  to  make  clear  the  fact 
that  he  is  not  merely  preaching  a  "belief,"  which 
he  has  embraced  because  of  doubt  or  fear,  or  be- 
cause it  is  a  creed.  Indeed,  he  is  free  from  the 
"law"  and  is,  therefore,  not  merely  following  a 
system,  neither  the  old  one  which  he  has  aban- 
doned, nor  a  new  one  which  he  has  accepted.  He 
speaks  from  the  "Lord,"  which  is  no  other  than 
the  highest  authority  that  man  may  know — • 
namely,  the  authority  that  comes  from  the  reali- 
zation of  his  own  imperishable  godhood — the  ef- 
fect of  cosmic  consciousness. 

He  says: 

"For  I  make  known  to  you  brethren,  as  touch- 
ing the  gospel  as  preached  by  me,  that  it  is  not 
after  man.  For  neither  did  I  receive  it  from  man, 


Paul  of  Tarsus  187 

nor  was  I  taught  it,  but  it  came  to  me  through 
revelation  of  Christ. 

"Christ  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the 
law.  But  before  faith  came,  we  were  kept  in- 
ward under  the  law,  shut  up  unto  the  faith  which 
should  afterwards  be  revealed.  For  ye  are  all 
sons  of  God  through  faith  in  Christ.  For  with 
freedom  did  Christ  set  us  free." 

This  we  take  to  refer  to  his  former  adherence 
to,  and  belief  in,  the  system  of  worship  taught 
by  the  Jews,  as  a  necessary  and  probably  the  only 
"way  of  salvation"  acceptable  to  God.  He  wishes 
his  hearers  to  understand  that  he  is  not  bound  by 
adherence  to  any  creed;  neither  the  old  one,  nor 
yet  the  new  one,  but  that  what  he  preached 
came  from  the  light  of  cosmic  consciousness,  in 
which  there  is  no  law,  nor  sense  of  law.  Cosmic 
consciousness  gives  to  the  illumined  one  a  sense 
of  freedom  (Christ  means  cosmic  consciousness, 
and  not  a  personality). 

Cosmic  consciousness  confers,  above  all  else, 
perhaps,  a  sense  of  freedom  from  every  form  of 
bondage. 

The  duty  and  the  obligations  that  bind  the  av- 
erage person,  are  impossible  to  the  cosmicallv 
conscious  one.  Not  that  he  displays  indiffer- 
ence toward  the  welfare  and  the  rights  of  others. 
Far  from  that,  he  feels  an  added  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility for  the  irresponsible;  an  overwhelm- 


1 88  Cosmic  Consciousness 

ing  compassion  for  the  unfortunate,  and  a  rela- 
tionship greater  than  ever  to  mankind. 

But  this  sense  of  freedom  causes  him  to  do  all 
in  love,  which  he  hitherto  did  because  it  was  so 
"laid  down  in  the  law." 

Again  St.  Paul  makes  this  plain : 

"The  fruit  of  the  spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long 
suffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness,  meek- 
ness, temperance;  against  such  as  these  there  is 
no  law — neither  is  circumcision  anything,  nor  un- 
circumcision,  but  a  new  creature." 

When  we  are  armored  with  the  "fruit  of  the 
spirit,"  we  have  no  need  for  rules  of  conduct; 
for  methods  of  salvation ;  or  for  any  of  the  bonds 
that  are  necessary  to  the  merely  sense-conscious 
man. 

Plainly,  Paul  recognized  the  fact  that  systems 
of  religion,  of  philosophy,  of  rules  and  ethics  of 
intercourse,  are  necessary  only  so  long  as  man 
remains  on  the  sense-conscious  plane.  When  Il- 
lumination comes,  there  comes  with  it  absolute 
freedom.  God  does  not  want  to  be  worshipped 
on  bended  knee;  by  rites  and  ceremonies;  by 
obedience  to  commandments,  but  the  undiscip- 
lined soul  acquires  power  and  poise  through  these 
exercises,  and  in  time  grows  to  the  full  stature  of 
god-consciousness. 

Nor  is  intellectual  greatness  to  be  confounded 


Paul  of  Tarsus  189 

with  the  godlike  character  of  the  one  who  has  at- 
tained to  Illumination. 

Elsewhere  in  these  pages  we  have  made  the  dis- 
tinction between  knowledge  and  wisdom.  Knowl- 
edge alone  can  never  bring  a  soul  into  the  path 
of  Illumination.  Wisdom  will  point  the  way,  but 
love  is  the  unerring  guide  to  the  very  goal. 

St.  Paul's  expression  of  this  fact  is  concise, 
and  to  the  point.  This  observation  alone,  stamps 
him  as  one  possessing  a  very  high  degree  of  re- 
alization of  what  cosmic  consciousness  is. 

"If  any  man  thinketh  that  he  is  wise  among 
you  in  this  world,  let  him  become  a  fool  that  he 
may  become  wise.  For  the  wisdom  of  this  world 
is  foolishness  to  God." 

The  worldly  wise  man  or  woman  asks  "how 
much  do  I  get?"  The  truly  wise  person  cares 
nothing  at  all  for  possessions.  He  only  asks 
"how  much  can  I  give?'"1-  — =•*  V*'V~ 

And  although  we  find  in  the  marts  of  commer- 
cialism a  contempt  for  the  gullible,  and  the  credu- 
lous; the  trusting  and  the  confiding,  let  it  be 
known  that  the  "smart"  bargainer  will  indeed 
smart  for  his  smartness,  for  in  the  light  of  cos- 
mic consciousness,  this  alleged  "wisdom"  of  men, 
appears  as  utter  foolishness;  wasted  effort;  a 
perversion  of  opportunity. 

Because  "all  these  things  shall  pass  away." 

Love  alone  is  imperishable. 


190  Cosmic  Consciousness 

Love  alone  is  the  savior  of  the  human  race, 
and  whenever  we  fail  to  act  from  motives  of 
love,  we  are  disloyal  to  the  light  within  us. 

Again  says  St  Paul : 

"If  I  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of 
angels,  and  have  not  love,  I  am  as  sounding  brass 
and  a  tinkling  cymbal. 

"And  if  I  have  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  know 
all  mysteries  and  all  knowledge;  and  if  I  have  all 
faith,  so  as  to  remove  mountains,  but  have  not 
love,  I  am  nothing. 

"And  if  I  bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor, 
and  if  I  give  my  body  to  be  burned,  but  have  not 
love,  it  profiteth  me  nothing. 

"LOVE  NEVER  FAILETH. 

"But  whether  there  be  prophecies  they  shall 
be  done  away ;  whether  there  be  tongues  they  shall 
cease;  whether  there  be  knowledge  it  shall  be 
done  away.  For  we  know  in  part  and  we  pro- 
phecy in  part,  but  when  that  which  is  perfect  is 
come,  that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away." 

It  must  be  remembered  that  in  the  days  of  St. 
Paul  the  high  priests  and  the  prophets  were  ac- 
counted the  wisest  and  most  exalted  persons  in 
the  community. 

The  ability  to  prophecy  presupposed  a  special 
favor  of  the  God  of  the  Jews.  St.  Paul's  expo- 
sition of  the  changed  viewpoint  that  comes  to 
one  who  has  entered  into  cosmic  consciousness, 


'Paul  of  Tarsus  191 

was  therefore  aptly  illustrated  by  his  open  avowal 
that  there  was  a  far  greater  power — a  more  ex- 
alted state  of  consciousness,  than  that  of  the  gift 
of  prophecy  and  of  "knowing  all  mysteries ;"  that 
state  of  one  in  which  love  was  the  ruler,  and  in 
order  that  they  might  the  more  fully  comprehend 
the  simplicity,  and  yet  the  perfection,  of  this  state 
of  consciousness,  he  made  clear  the  fact  that  no 
one  truly  who  became  "a  new  creature",  as  he 
characterized  this  change,  ever  exalted  himself, 
or  made  high  claims;  or  became  exclusive,  or 
"superior,"  or  "holy,"  in  the  sense  the  latter  word 
had  been  used. 

How,  then,  would  they  know  when  they  had 
attained  to  this  state  of  consciousness,  of  which 
he  spoke,  and  which  they  but  dimly  understood? 

How  might  they  know  when  they  had  found 
this  great  love  that  was  to  make  them  "a  new 
creature"  ? 

First  of  all,  they  might  know  because: 

LOVE  NEVER  FAILETH. 

Love  suffereth  long  and  is  kind;  love  envieth 
not;  love  vaunteth  not  itself;  is  not  puffed  up, 
does  not  behave  unseemly;  seeketh  not  its  own; 
is  not  provoked;  taketh  not  account  of  evil;  re- 
joiceth  not  in  unrighteousness,  but  rejoiceth  with 
the  truth ;  beareth  all  things ;  believeth  all  things ; 
hopeth  all  things ;  endureth  all  things. 

In  £act,  LOVE  NEVER  FAILETH.    Love  is 


192  Cosmic  Consciousness 

always  a  safe  guide.  No  matter  what  may  be 
said  to  the  contrary ;  no  matter  how  much  suffer- 
ing it  entails;  no  matter  how  seemingly  fruit- 
less the  sacrifice;  or  how  ungrateful  the  results, 
love  never  faileth. 

How  can  it  fail  when  we  "seek  not  our  own," 
but  only  love  for  love's  own  sake,  without  regard 
to  compensation  or  gratitude? 

St.  Paul,  with  all  who  have  expressed  in  any 
considerable  degree  this  cosmic  realization,  seems 
to  have  expected  a  time,  when  cosmic  conscious- 
ness should  become  so  general,  as  to  bring  the 
kingdom  of  love  upon  earth.  This  corresponds 
to  the  Millenium,  which  has  always  been  pro- 
phesied, and  which  the  present  era  fulfills,  in  all 
the  "signs  of  the  times"  that  were  to  usher  in 
The  Dawn. 

Moreover,  the  idea  that  there  shall  come  a 
time  when  death  shall  be  overcome,  is  a  persistent 
part  of  .every  prophecy,  and  of  every  religious 
cult.  In  these  days  we  find  that  science  is  specu- 
lating upon  the  probability  of  discovering  a  spe- 
cific for  senile  death,  as  well  as  for  the  final 
elimination  of  death  from  disease  and  accidents. 

Whether  or  not  this  is  to  be  the  manner  of 
"overcoming  the  last  enemy,"  the  fact  remains 
that  the  almost  universally  held  idea  of  physical 
immortality  has  a  basis  in  fact,  which  this  postu- 
late of  science  symbolizes. 


Pal  of  Tarsus  193 

"For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorruption, 
and  this  mortality  must  put  on  immortality,  but 
when  this  corruptible  shall  have  put  on  incor- 
ruption, and  this  mortal  shall  have  put  on  immor- 
tality, then  shall  come  to  pass  the  saying  that  is 
written:  'Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory.'' 

So  said  St.  Paul,  and  his  words  show  clearly 
that  before  his  time  there  had  been  a  prophecy 
and  belief  in  the  final  triumph  of  love  over  death, 
not  as  an  article  of  faith,  but  as  a  common  knowl- 
edge. 

St.  Paul  speaks  of  the  time  when  "we  shall  not 
all  sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed,  in  a  mo- 
ment, in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last 
trump. 

"And  then  come  to  the  end,  when  he  shall  de- 
liver up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father; 
when  he  shall  have  abolished  all  rule,  all  au- 
thority, and  all  power." 

Unquestionably,  if  all  men  on  earth  in  the 
flesh  and  in  the  astral,  were  to  come  into  the 
light  of  the  cosmic  consciousness,  there  would  be 
no  need  for  laws,  for  authority  or  power.  The 
kingdom,  which  signifies  the  earth  as  a  planet, 
would  indeed  be  delivered  to  God,  which  means 
Love,  and  "Love  never  faileth." 

And  while  we  admit  that  these  words  of  St. 
Paul  may  be  applied  to  individual  attainment  of 
cosmic  consciousness,  and  not  refer  to  an  era  of 


194  Cosmic  Consciousness 

earth  life,  in  which  the  fruits  of  this  larger  con- 
sciousness are  to  be  gathered  in  the  physical,  yet 
we  maintain  that  the  argument  for  such  an  hypo- 
thesis is  strong  indeed.  He  says : 

"For  the  earnest  expectation  of  creation 
waiteth  for  the  revealing  of  the  sons  of  God." 

For  the  term  "sons  of  God"  interpret  "those 
who  have  attained  cosmic  consciousness,"  and  we 
may  readily  parallel  this  with  the  many  allusions 
to  the  earth's  redemption,  with  which  history  is 
strewn. 

To  "redeem"  the  earth  is  quite  comparable  with 
the  idea  of  redeeming  any  part  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face— either  as  a  nation,  or  as  a  tract  of  land — 
which  is  not  yielding  the  best  that  it  is  capable  of. 

In  the  cosmogony  of  the  heavens,  the  planet 
earth  may  well  be  likened  to  a  territory  that  has 
possibilities,  but  which  needs  cultivation;  en- 
couragement; work;  to  bring  out  its  possibilities 
and  make  it  a  place  of  comfort  and  enlighten- 
ment. 

So  we  have  been  informed — and  an  under- 
standing of  deeper  occultism  will  bear  out  the 
information — that  this  earth  is  being  made  a 
"fit  habitation  for  the  gods"  (i.  e.,  cosmically  con- 
scious beings,  to  w-hom  love  is  the  only  author- 
ity necessary). 

Paul  clearly  alludes  to  the  redemption  of  the 


Paul  of  Tarsus  195 

body,  as  well  as  the  continuance  of  the  life  of 
the  soul,  when  he  says : 

"For  the  creation  was  subject  to  vanity,  not 
of  its  own  will,  but  by  reason  of  him  who  sub- 
jected it,  in  hope  that  the  creation  itself  also  shall 
be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into 
the  liberty  of  the  glory  of  the  children  of  God. 
For  we  know  that  the  whole  creation  groaneth 
and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now.  And 
not  only  so,  but  ourselves  also,  WHICH  HAVE 
THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,  even 
we  ourselves,  waiting  for  our  adoption,  to  wit, 
the  redemption  of  the  body." 

St.  Paul  declared  that  even  those  who  had 
glimpsed  that  wonderful  Illumination  (which 
have  the  first  fruits  of  the  spirit),  are  not  free 
from  the  travail  of  the  sense-conscious  world, 
until  such  time  as  the  cycle  has  been  completed, 
and  those  who  "are  already  in  Christ,  and  then 
they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming,"  shall  have 
made  possible  the  perfected  creation,  and  brought 
about  the  reign  of  *ave  on  earth. 

So  that,  when  a  sufficient  number  of  souls 
shall  have  attained  to  this  Illumination  (cosmic 
consciousness),  the  "last  enemy  shall  be  over- 
come." That  this  present  era  gives  promise  of 
this  hope,  is  evident. 

The  attainment  of  cosmic  consciousness  brings 
with  it  immunity  from  reincarnation,  as  a  neces- 
sity— as  a  law,  but  it  does  not  provide  against  the 


196  Cosmic  Consciousness 

coming  of  avatars — "sons  of  God,"  who  are  to 
"deliver  Creation  from  the  bondage  of  corrup- 
tion." 

This  also  is  clearly  stated  by  Paul : 

"There  is  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are 
in  Christ.  For  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and 
death." 

There  never  is  any  doubt  in  the  minds  of  those 
who  have  attained  cosmic  consciousness,  that  they 
are  spiritual  beings  and  immortal — free  from  the 
law  of  karma;  neither  is  there  any  thought  of 
evil  or  of  condemnation. 

They  know  that  men  are  gods  in  embryo 
and  that  until  they  have  been  born  into  the  cos- 
mic consciousness — the  realization  of  their 
reality  as  spirit,  they  must  travail ;  but  this  sense- 
conscious  state  is  not  to  be  condemned  any  more 
than  the  child  is  to  be  condemned  because  it  has 
not  yet  grown  to  adultship. 

The  advice  of  St.  Paul  himself  was  simple 
enough  and  straightforward  enough.  It  was  de- 
void of  all  subtleties;  free  from  complexity;  free 
from  fear,  or  haste,  or  doubt,  or  strife,  while 
confidently  awaiting  the  universal  attainment  of 
Illumination. 

To  the  question  as  to  what  path  to  follow; 
what  should  be  done  to  gain  this  great  boon,  if 
the  law  of  the  ancient  Hebrews  was  not  to  be 
followed  in  its  literal  significance,  Paul  said : 


Paul  of  Tarsus  197 

"Whatsoever  things  are  honest;  whatsoever 
things  are  true;  whatsoever  things  are  just;  what- 
soever things  are  pure;  whatsoever  things  are 
lovely;  whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report;  if 
there  be  any  virtue,  and  if  there  be  any  praise, 
THINK  ON  THESE  THINGS/' 

Which  is  to  say,  do  not  seek  the  letter  of  the 
way  of  Illumination.  Do  not  look  for  forms  and 
ceremonies  and  rules  and  systems,  but  look  for 
that  which  is  clean  and  pure  and  good  wherever 
it  may  be  found. 

In  St.  Paul  we  have  fulfilled  all  the  points 
that  characterize  those  who  have  been  blessed 
with  the  great  Illumination. 

His  broad  outlook  upon  humanity,  which  re- 
fused to  see  evil  or  to  condemn  where  formerly 
he  had  been  noted  for  his  zeal  in  bringing  to  con- 
demnation all  whom  he  believed  to  be  heretics; 
his  conviction  of  immortality;  his  humility,  as 
far  as  personal  aggrandizement  was  concerned; 
the  great  light  in  which  was  revealed  to  him  the 
truth;  the  annihilation  of  the  idea  of  sin  and 
death ;  the  realization  that  systems  and  laws  and 
methods  of  worship  and  giving  of  alms  and  all 
the  by-paths  which  formerly  he  had  deemed 
necessary,  were  as  naught  compared  to  the  great 
illuminating,  all-embracing  power  of  Love — the 
Savior  whose  kingdom  should  sometime  be  es- 
tablished upon  earth — the  time  being  when  cosmic 
consciousness  should  be  general. 


CHAPTER  XI 
MAHOMMED 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  followers  or  Ma- 
hommed,  the  prophet,  are  among  the  mosi  fanat- 
ical and  prejudiced  of  all  religious  sects,  Ma- 
hommed  himself  was  unquestionably  among  the 
Illumined  Ones  of  earth,  and  had  attained  and 
retained  a  high  degree  of  cosmic  consciousness. 

The  wars;  the  persecutions;  the  horrors  that 
have  been  committed  in  the  name  of  Islam,  are 
perhaps  a  little  more  atrocious  than  any  in  his- 
tory although  the  unspeakable  cruelties  of  the 
Inquisition  would  seem  to  have  no  parallel. 

The  religion  of  Persia,  wrongly  alluded  to 
as  "fire-worship,"  marks  Zoroaster  as  among  the 
Illuminati,  but  as  the  present  volume  is  concerned, 
in  the  religious  aspect  of  it,  only  with  those  cases 
of  Illumination  which  we  are  classifying  among 
the  present  great  religious  systems,  we  cite  the 
case  of  Mahommed,  the  Arab,  as  one  clearly  es- 
tablishing the  characteristic  points  of  Illumina- 
tion. 

When  Mahommed  was  born,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  fifth  century,  the  condition  of  his  country- 
men was  primitive  in  the  extreme. 
198 


Mahommed  199 

The  most  powerful  force  among  them  was 
tribal  or  clan  loyalty,  and  a  corresponding  hatred 
of,  and  readiness  to  make  war  with,  opposing 
clans. 

Although  at  the  time  of  Mahommed's  birth, 
Christianity  had  made  great  headway  in  different 
parts  of  the  old  world,  it  had  made  very  little  im- 
press upon  the  Arabs.  They  worshipped  their 
tribal  gods,  and  there  are  traces  of  a  belief  in  a 
supreme  God  (Allah  ta-ala),  but  they  were  not 
as  a  race  inclined  to  a  deeply  religious  sentiment. 

One  and  all,  whether  given  to  superstitions  or 
denying  a  belief  in  Allah,  they  dreaded  the  dark 
after-life  and  although  the  different  tribes  made 
their  yearly  pilgrimages  to  Mecca,  and  faithfully 
kissed  the  stone  that  had  fallen  from  heaven  in 
the  days  of  Adam,  the  inspiration  of  their  ancient 
prophets  had  long  since  died,  and  a  new  prophet 
was  expected  and  looked  for. 

The  yearly  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  which  was  at 
once  the  center  of  trade  and  the  goal  of  the  re- 
ligious enthusiast,  was  observed  by  all  the  tribes 
of  Arabia,  but  it  is  a  question  whether  the  pil- 
grimage was  not  more  often  made  in  a  holiday 
spirit  than  in  that  of  the  devotee  to  the  Kaabeh, 
the  most  sacred  temple  in  all  Arabia. 

Indeed,  it  is  agreed  by  all  commentators,  that 
the  ancient  Arab,  "In  the  Time  of  Ignorance," 
before  the  coming  of  Mahommed,  knew  little 


2OO  Cosmic  Consciousness 

and  cared  less  about  those  spiritual  qualities  that 
look  beyond  the  physical ;  not  questioning,  as  did 
Mahommed,  what  lies  beyond  this  vale  of  strife, 
whose  only  exit  is  the  dark  and  inscrutable  face 
of  death. 

Besides  the  tribal  gods,  individual  households 
had  their  special  Penates,  to  whom  was  due  the 
first  and  the  last  salam  of  the  returning  or  out- 
going host.  But  in  spite  of  all  this  superstitious 
apparatus,  the  Arabs  were  never  a  religious  peo- 
ple. In  the  old  days,  as  now,  they  were  reck- 
less, skeptical,  materialistic.  They  had  their 
gods  and  their  divining  arrows,  but  they  were 
ready  to  demolish  both  if  the  responses  proved 
contrary  to  their  wishes.  A  great  majority  be- 
lieved in  no  future  life,  nor  in  a  reckoning  day  of 
good  and  evil. 

Such,  then,  was  the  condition  of  thought  among 
the  various  tribes  when  Mahommed  was  born. 

It  was  not,  however,  until  he  was  past  forty 
years  of  age,  that  the  revelations  came  to  him, 
and  although  it  was  some  time  later  that  these 
were  set  down,  together  with  his  admonitions 
and  counsel  to  his  followers,  it  is  believed  that 
they  are  for  the  most  part  well  authenticated, 
as  the  Koran  was  compiled  during  Mahommed's 
lifetime,  and  thus,  in  the  original,  doubtless  rep- 
resents an  authentic  account  of  Mahommed's 
experiences. 


Mahommed  201 

It  is  related  that  Mahommed's  father  died  be- 
fore his  son's  birth  and  his  mother  six  years 
later.  Thus  Mahommed  was  left  to  the  care  of 
his  grandfather,  the  virtual  chief  of  Mecca.  The 
venerable  chief  lived  but  two  years  and  Mahom- 
med, who  was  a  great  favorite  with  his  grand- 
father, became  the  special  charge  of  his  uncle, 
Aboo-Talib,  whose  devotion  never  wavered,  even 
during  the  trying  later  years,  when  Mahommed's 
persecutions  caused  the  uncle  untold  hardships 
and  trials. 

At  an  early  age  Mahommed  took  up  the  life  of 
a  sheep  herder,  caring  for  the  herds  of  his  kins- 
men. This  step  became  necessary  because  the 
once  princely  fortune  of  his  noble  ancestors  had 
dwindled  to  almost  the  extreme  of  poverty,  but 
although  the  occupation  of  sheep  herder  was  des- 
pised by  the  tribes,  it  is  said  that  Mahommed  him- 
self in  later  life  often  alluded  to  his  early  calling 
as  the  time  when  "God  called  him." 

At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  took  up  the  more 
desirable  post  of  camel  driver,  and  was  taken 
into  the  employ  of  a  wealthy  kinswoman,  Kha- 
deejeh,  whom  he  afterwards  married,  although 
she  was  fifteen  years  his  senior — a  disparity  in 
age  which  means  far  more  in  the  East,  where 
physical  charm  and  beauty  are  the  only  requisites 
for  a  wife,  than  it  does  in  the  West  where  men 


2O2  Cosmic  Consciousness 

look  more  to  the  mental  endowments  of  a  wife 
than  to  the  fleeting  charm  of  youth. 

It  is  also  to  Mahommed's  credit  that  his  devo- 
tion to  his  first  wife  never  wavered  to  the  day  of 
her  death  and,  indeed,  as  long  as  he  himself  lived 
he  spoke  with  reverence  and  deep  affection  of 
Khadeejeh. 

We  learn  that  the  next  fifteen  years  were  lived 
in  the  usual  manner  of  a  man  of  his  station. 
Khadeejeh  brought  him  wealth  and  this  gave  him 
the  necessary  time  and  ease  in  which  to  medi- 
tate, and  the  never- vary  ing  devotion  and  trust  of 
his  faithful  wife  brought  him  repose  and  the 
power  to  aid  his  impoverished  uncle,  and  to  be 
regarded  among  the  tribes  as  a  man  of  influence. 

His  simple,  unostentatious,  and  even  ascetic 
life  during  these  years  was  noted.  He  was 
known  as  a  man  of  extremely  refined  tastes  and 
sensitive  though  not  querulous  nature.  A  com- 
mentator says  of  him: 

"His  constitution  was  extremely  delicate.  He 
was  nervously  afraid  of  bodily  pain;  he  would 
sob  and  roar  under  it.  Eminently  unpractical  in 
the  common  things  of  life,  he  was  gifted  with 
mighty  powers  of  imagination,  elevation  of  mind, 
delicacy  and  refinement  of  feeling.  "He  is  more 
modest  than  a  virgin  behind  her  curtain,"  it  has 
been  said  of  him. 

"He  was  most  indulgent  to  his  inferiors  and 


Mahommed 


203 


would  not  allow  his  awkward  little  page  to  be 
scolded,  whatever  he  did.  He  was  most  affection- 
ate toward  his  family.  He  was  very  fond  of 
children,  and  would  stop  them  in  the  streets  and 
pat  their  little  cheeks.  He  never  struck  anyone 
in  his  life.  The  worst  expression  he  ever  made 
use  of  in  conversation  was :  'What  has  come  to 
him — may  his  forehead  be  darkened  with  mud.' 

"When  asked  to  curse  some  one  he  replied: 
'I  have  not  been  sent  to  curse,  but  to  be  a  mercy 
to  mankind.'  He  visited  the  sick,  followed  any 
bier  he  met,  accepted  the  invitation  of  a  slave  to 
dinner,  mended  his  own  clothes,  milked  his  goats 
and  waited  upon  himself. 

"He  never  withdrew  his  hand  out  of  another's 
palm,  and  turned  not  before  the  other  had  turned. 

"He  was  the  most  faithful  protector  of  those 
he  protected,  the  sweetest  and  most  agreeable  in 
conversation;  those  who  saw  him  were  suddenly 
filled  with  reverence;  those  who  came  to  him, 
loved  him.  They  who  described  him  would  say: 
'I  have  never  seen  his  like,  either  before  or  after.' 

"He  was,  however,  very  nervous  and  restless 
withal,  often  low-spirited,  downcast  as  to  heart 
and  eyes.  Yet  he  would  at  times  suddenly  break 
through  these  breedings,  become  gay,  talkative, 
jocular,  chiefly  among  his  own." 

This  picture  corresponds  with  the  temperament 
which  is  alluded  to  as  the  "artistic,"  or  "psychic" 


2O4  Cosmic  Consciousness 

temperament,  and  allowing  that  in  these  days 
there  is  much  posing  and  pretense,  we  still  must 
admit  that  the  quality  known  as  "temperament" 
is  a  psychological  study  suggesting  a  stage  of  de- 
velopment hitherto  unclassified.  It  is  said  also, 
that  in  his  youth  Mahommed  was  subject  to  at- 
tacks of  catalepsy,  evidencing  an  organism  pecu- 
liarly "psychic." 

It  is  evident  that  Mahommed  regarded  him- 
self as  one  having  a  mission  upon  earth,  even 
before  he  had  received  the  revelations  which 
announced  him  as  a  prophet  chosen  of  Allah, 
for  he  long  brooded  over  the  things  of  the  spirit, 
and  although  he  had  not,  up  to  his  fortieth  year, 
openly  protested  against  the  fetish  worship  of 
the  Kureysh,  yet  he  was  regarded  as  one  who 
had  a  different  idea  of  worship  from  that  of  the 
men  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 

Gradually,  he  became  more  and  more  inclined 
to  solitude,  and  made  frequent  excursions  into 
the  hills,  and  in  his  solitary  wanderings,  he  suf- 
fered agonies  of  doubt  and  self  distrust,  fearing 
lest  he  be  self-deceived,  and  again,  lest  he  be  in- 
deed called  to  become  a  prophet  of  God  and  fail 
in  his  mission. 

Here  in  a  cave,  the  revelation  came.  Mahom- 
med had  spent  nights  and  days  in  fasting  and 
prayer  beseeching  God  for  some  sign,  some  word 
that  would  settle  his  doubts  and  agonies  of  dis- 


Mahommed  205 

trust  and  longing  for  an  answer  to  life's  riddle. 

It  is  related  that  suddenly  during  the  watches 
of  the  night,  Mahommed  awoke  to  find  his  soli- 
tary cave  filled  with  a  great  and  wondrous  light 
out  of  which  issued  a  voice  saying:  "Cry,  cry 
aloud."  "What  shall  I  cry?"  he  answers,  and 
the  voice  answered: 

"Cry  in  the  name  of  thy  Lord  who  hath 
created;  He  hath  created  man  from  a  clot  of 
blood.  Cry — and  thy  Lord  is  the  most  bounti- 
ful, who  hath  taught  by  the  pen ;  He  hath  taught 
man  that  which  he  knew  not." 

It  is  reported  that  almost  immediately,  Mahom- 
med felt  his  intelligence  illuminated  with  the 
light  of  spiritual  understanding,  and  all  that  had 
previously  vexed  his  spirit  with  doubt  and  non- 
comprehension,  was  clear  as  crystal  to  his  under- 
standing. Nevertheless,  this  feeling  of  assur- 
ance did  not  remain  with  him  at  that  time,  defi- 
nitely, for  we  are  told  that  "Mahommed  arose 
trembling  and  went  to  Khadeejeh  and  told  her 
what  he  had  seen  and  heard;  and  she  did  her 
woman's  part  and  believed  in  him  and  soothed 
his  terror  and  bade  him  hope  for  the  future.  Yet 
he  could  not  believe  in  himself.  Was  he  not  per- 
haps, mad  ?  or  possessed  by  a  devil  ?  Were  these 
voices  of  a  truth  from  God?  And  so  he  went 
again  on  the  solitary  wanderings,  hearing  strange 
sounds,  and  thinking  them  at  one  time  the  testi- 


206  Cosmic  Consciousness 

mony  of  heaven  and  at  another  the  temptings  of 
Satan,  or  the  ravings  of  madness.  Doubting, 
wondering,  hoping,  he  had  fain  put  an  end  to  a 
life  which  had  become  intolerable  in  its  chang- 
ings  from  the  hope  of  heaven  to  the  hell  of  des- 
pair, when  he  again  heard  the  voice:  "Thou  art 
the  messenger  of  God  and  I  am  Gabriel."  "Con- 
viction at  length  seized  hold  upon  him;  he  was 
indeed  to  bring  a  message  of  good  tidings  to  the 
Arabs,  the  message  of  God  through  His  angel 
Gabriel.  He  went  back  to  his  faithful  wife  ex- 
hausted in  mind  and  body,  but  with  his  doubts 
laid  at  rest." 

\Yith  the  history  of  the  spread  of  Mahommed's 
message  we  are  not  concerned  in  this  volume. 
The  fact  that  his  own  nearest  of  kin,  those  of 
his  own  household,  believed  in  his  divine  mis- 
sion, and  held  to  him  with  unwavering  faith  dur- 
ing the  many  years  of  persecution  that  followed, 
is  proof  that  Mahommed  was  indeed  a  man  who 
had  attained  Illumination.  If  the  condition  of 
woman  did  not  rise  to  the  heights  which  we 
have  a  right  to  expect  of  the  cosmic  conscious 
man  of  the  future,  we  must  remember  that  east- 
ern traditions  have  ever  given  woman  an  inferior 
place,  and  for  the  matter  of  that,  St.  Paul  him- 
self seems  to  have  shared  the  then  general  belief 
in  the  inferiority  of  the  female. 

It  is  undeniable  that  Mahommed's  domestic 


Mahommed  207 

relations  were  of  the  most  agreeable  character; 
his  kindness  and  consideration  were  without  par- 
allel; his  harem  was  made  up  for  the  most  part 
of  women  who  were  refused  and  scorned  by 
other  men ;  widows  of  his  friends.  And  the  fact 
that  the  prophet  was  a  man  of  the  most  abstemi- 
ous habits  argues  the  claim  that  compassion  and 
kindness  was  the  motive  in  most  instances  where 
he  took  to  himself  another  and  yet  another  wife. 

However,  the  points  which  we  are  here  deal- 
ing with,  are  those  which  directly  relate  to  Ma- 
hommed's  unquestioned  illumination  and  the 
spirit  of  his  utterances  as  contained  in  the  Ku-ran, 
corroborate  the  experience  of  Buddha,  of  Jesus, 
and  of  all  whose  illumination  has  resulted  in  the 
establishment  of  a  religious  system. 

Mahommed  taught,  first  of  all,  the  fact  of 
the  one  God.  "There  is  no  God  but  Allah,"  was 
his  cry,  and,  following  the  example,  or  at  least 
paralleling  the  example  of  Jesus,  he  "destroyed 
their  idols"  and  substituted  the  worship  of  one 
God,  in  place  of  the  tribal  deities,  which  were  a 
constant  source  of  disputation  among  the  clans. 

Compare  the  following,  which  is  one  of  the 
five  daily  prayers  of  the  faithful  Muslim,  with 
the  Lord's  prayer  as  used  in  Christian  theology. 

"In  the  name  of  God,  the  compassionate — the 
merciful. 


208  Cosmic  Consciousness 

Praise  be  to  God,  the  Lord  of  the  worlds, 

The  compassionate,  the  merciful. 

The  king  of  the  day  of  judgment. 

Thee  do  we  worship  and  of  Thee  do  we  beg 
assistance. 

Guide  us  in  the  right  way, 

The  way  of  those  to  whom  Thou  hast  been  gra- 
cious, 

Not  of  those  with  whom  Thou  art  wroth,  nor  of 
the  erring." 

Mahommed  never  tired  of  telling  his  disciples 
and  followers  that  God  was  "The  Very-Forgiv- 
ing." Among  the  many  and  sometimes  strangely 
varied  attributes  of  God  (The  Absolute),  we 
find  this  characteristic  most  strongly  and  per- 
sistently dwelt  upon — the  ever  ready  forgiveness 
and  mercifulness  of  God. 

Every  soorah  of  the  Kur-an  begins  with  the 
words :  "In  the  name  of  God,  the  compassionate, 
the  merciful,"  but,  even  as  Jesus  laid  persistent 
emphasis  upon  the  love  of  God,  and  yet  up  to 
very  recent  times,  Christianity  taught  the  fear  and 
wrath  of  God,  losing  sight  of  the  one  great  and 
important  fact  that  God  is  love,  and  that  love  is 
God,  so  the  Muslims  overlooked  the  real  message, 
and  the  greatness  and  the  power  and  the  fearful- 
ness  of  God,  is  the  incentive  of  the  followers  of 
the  Illumined  Mahommed. 


Mahommed  209 

The  following  extracts  from  the  Kur-an  are 
almost  identical  with  many  passages  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures  of  the  Christian,  and  are  comparable 
with  the  sayings  of  the  Lord  Buddha. 

"God.  There  is  no  God  but  He,  the  ever-liv- 
ing, the  ever-subsisting.  Slumber  seizeth  Him 
not  nor  sleep.  To  Him  belongeth  whatsoever  is 
in  the  heavens  and  whatsoever  is  in  the  earth. 
Who  is  he  that  shall  intercede  with  Him,  save 
by  His  permission?" 

The  Muslim  is  a  fatalist,  but  this  may  be  due 
less  to  the  teachings  of  the  prophet  than  to  the 
peculiar  quality  of  the  Arab  nature,  which  makes 
him  stake  everything,  even  his  own  liberty  upon 
the  cast  of  a  die. 

The  leading  doctrine  of  the  all-powerfulness 
of  God  seems  to  warrant  the  belief  in  fatalism — 
a  belief  which  offers  a  stumbling  block  to  all 
theologians,  all  philosophers,  all  thinkers.  If 
God  is  omnipotent,  omnipresent,  omniscient,  how 
and  where  and  in  what  manner  can  be  explained 
the  necessity  of  individual  effort? 

This  problem  is  not  at  all  clear  to  the  western 
mind,  and  it  is  equally  obscure  to  that  of  the  East. 

It  is  said  of  Mahommed  that  when  asked  con- 
cerning the  doctrine  of  "fatalism"  he  would  show 
more  anger  than  at  any  other  question  that  could 
be  put  to  him.  He  found  it  impossible  to  explain 
that  while  all  knowledge  was  God's,  yet  the  indi- 


aio  Cosmic  Consciousness 

vidual  was  responsible  for  his  own  salvation,  by 
virtue  of  his  good  deeds  and  words.  Neverthe- 
less, it  is  not  unlikely  that  Mahommed  possessed 
the  key  to  this  seeming  riddle;  but  how  could 
it  be  possible  to  speak  in  a  language  which  was 
totally  incomprehensible  to  them  of  this  knowl- 
edge— the  language  of  cosmic  consciousness? 

Like  Jesus,  who  said :  "Many  things  I  have  to 
tell  you,  but  you  can  not  bear  (understand) 
them  now,"  so,  we  may  w-ell  believe  that  Mahom- 
med was  hard-pressed  to  find  language  compre- 
hensible to  his  followers,  in  which  to  explain  the 
all-knowingness  and  all-power  fulness  of  God, 
and  at  the  same  time,  not  have  them  fall  into 
the  error  of  the  fatal  doctrine  of  fatalism. 

But  throughout  all  his  teachings  Mahommed's 
chief  concern  seemed  to  be  to  draw  his  people 
away  from  their  worship  of  idols,  and  to  this  end 
he  laid  constant  and  repeated  emphasis  upon  the 
one-ness  of  God ;  the  all-ness,  the  completeness  of 
the  one  God ;  always  adding  "the  Compassionate, 
the  Loving." 

This  constant  allusion  to  the  all-ness  of  God 
is  in  line  with  all  who  have  attained  to  cosmic 
consciousness.  Nothing  more  impresses  the  illum- 
ined mind,  than  the  fact  that  the  universe  is  One 
— uni —  (one)  — verse —  (song) — one  glorious 
harmony  when  taken  in  its  entirety,  but  when 
broken  up  and  segregated,  and  set  at  variance, 


Mahommed  an 

we  find  discord,  even  as  the  score  of  a  grand 
operatic  composition  when  played  in  unison 
makes  perfect  harmony  but  when  incomplete,  is 
nerve-racking. 

Like  all  inspired  teachers,  Mahommed  taught 
the  end  of  the  world  of  sense,  and  the  coming  of 
the  day  of  judgment,  and  the  final  reign  of  peace 
and  love.  This  may,  of  course,  be  interpreted 
literally,  and  applied  to  a  life  other  than  that 
which  is  to  be  lived  on  this  planet,  but  it  may 
also  with  equal  logic  be  assumed  that  Mahom- 
med foresaw  the  dawn  of  cosmic  consciousness 
as  a  race-endowment,  belonging  to  the  inherit- 
ors of  this  sphere  called  earth.  In  either  event 
the  ultimate  is  the  same,  whether  the  one  who 
suffers  and  attains,  comes  into  his  own  in  some 
plane  or  place  in  the  heavens,  or  whether  he 
becomes  at-one  with  God,  The  Absolute  Love 
and  Power  of  the  spheres,  and  "inherits  the 
earth,"  in  the  days  of  the  on-coming  higher  de- 
gree of  consciousness,  which  we  are  here  con- 
sidering. 

That  Mahommed  realized  the  nothingness  of 
form  and  ritual,  except  it  be  accompanied  by 
sincerity  and  understanding,  is  evident  in  the 
following : 

"Your  turning  your  faces  in  prayer,  towards 
the  East  and  the  West,  is  not  piety;  but  the  pious 
is  he  who  believeth  in  God,  and  the  last  day, 


212  Cosmic  Consciousness 

and  in  the  angels  and  in  the  Scripture;  and  the 
prophets,  and  who  giveth  money  notwithstand- 
ing his  love  of  it  to  relations  and  orphans,  and 
to  the  needy  and  the  son  of  the  road,  and  to 
the  askers  for  the  freeing  of  slaves;  and  who 
performeth  prayer  and  giveth  the  alms,  and 
those  who  perform  their  covenant  when  they 
covenant;  and  the  patient  in  adversity  and  afflic- 
tion and  the  time  of  violence.  These  are  they 
who  have  been  true;  and  these  are  they  who 
fear  God." 

Parallel  with  the  doctrine  taught  by  Buddha, 
and  Jesus,  is  the  advice  to  overcome  evil  with 
good.  In  our  modern  metaphysical  language, 
we  must  dissolve  the  vibrations  of  hate,  by  the 
power  of  love,  instead  of  opposing  hate  with  hate, 
war  with  war,  revenge  with  revenge. 

Mahommed  expressed  this  doctrine  of  non- 
resistance  thus: 

"Turn  away  evil  by  that  which  is  better;  and 
lo,  he,  between  whom  and  thyself  was  enmity, 
shall  become  as  though  he  were  a  warm  friend." 

"But  none  is  endowed  with  this,  except  those 
who  have  been  patient  and  none  is  endowed  with 
it,  except  he  who  is  greatly  favored." 

Mahommed  meant  by  these  words  "he  who  is 
greatly  favored,"  to  explain  that  in  order  to  see 
the  wisdom  and  the  glory  of  such  conduct,  one 
must  have  attained  to  spiritual  consciousness. 


Mahommed 


213 


This  was  especially  a  new  doctrine  to  the  people 
to  whom  he  was  preaching,  because  it  was  con- 
sidered cowardice  to  fail  to  resent  a  blow.  Pride 
of  family  and  birth  was  the  strongest  trait  in 
the  Arab  nature. 

In  furtherance  of  this  doing  good  to  others, 
we  find  these  words:  "If  ye  are  greeted  with 
a  greeting,  then  greet  ye  with  a  better  greeting, 
or  at  least  return  it ;  verily,  God  taketh  count  of 
these  things.  If  there  be  any  under  a  difficulty 
wait  until  it  be  easy;  but  if  ye  remit  it  as  alms, 
it  will  be  better  for  you." 

Mahommed  here  referred  to  debtors  and 
creditors;  as  he  was  talking  to  traders,  mer- 
chants, men  who  were  constantly  buying  and 
selling,  this  admonition  was  in  line  with  his 
teaching,  which  was  to  "do  unto  others  that 
which  you  would  that  they  do  unto  you." 

In  further  compliance  with  his  doctrine  of 
doing  good  for  good's  sake  Mahommed  said: 
"If  ye  manifest  alms,  good  will  it  be;  but  if  ye 
conceal  them  and  give  them  to  the  poor,  it  will 
be  better  for  you;  and  it  will  expiate  some  of 
your  sins." 

Alms-giving,  as  an  ostentatious  display  among 
church  members,  was  here  given  its  rightful 
place.  It  is  well  and  good  to  give  openly  to  or- 
ganizations, but  it  is  better  to  give  to  individuals 
who  need  it,  secretly  and  quietly  to  give,  with- 


214  Cosmic  Consciousness 

out  hope,  or  expectation,  or  desire  for  thanks,  or 
for  reward,  to  give  for  the  love  of  giving,  for  the 
sole  wish  to  make  others  happy.  This  desire  to 
bestow  upon  others  the  happiness  which  has  come 
to  them,  is  a  characteristic  of  the  cosmic  con- 
scious man  or  woman. 

It  is  comforting  to  know  that  Mahommed, 
like  Buddha  and  The  Man  of  Sorrows;  and  like 
Sri  Ramakrishna,  the  saint  of  India,  at  length 
attained  unto  that  peaceful  calm  that  comes  to 
one  who  has  found  the  way  of  Illumination.  It 
is  doubtless  impossible  for  the  merely  sense-con- 
scious person  to  form  any  adequate  idea  of  the 
inward  urge;  the  agony  of  doubts  and  question- 
ings; the  imperative  necessity  such  a  one  feels, 
to  KNOW. 

The  sense-conscious  person  reads  of  the  lives 
of  these  men  and  wonders  why  they  could  not 
be  happy  with  the  things  of  the  world.  The 
temptation  that  we  are  told  came  to  Jesus  in 
the  garden,  is  typical  of  the  state  of  transition 
from  sense-consciousness  to-  cosmic  conscious- 
ness. The  sense-conscious  person  regards  the 
things  of  the  senses  as  important.  He  is 
actuated  by  ambition  or  self-seeking  or  by  love 
of  physical  comfort  or  by  physical  activity,  to 
obtain  the  possessions  of  sense.  To  such  as  these, 
the  agonies  of  mind ;  the  physical  hardships ;  the 
ever-ready  forgiveness  and  the  desire  for  peace 


Mahommed 


215 


and  love  of  the  Illuminate  seem  almost  weak- 
nesses. Therefore,  they  can  not  fully  comprehend 
the  satisfaction  which  comes  to  the  one  who  has 
come  into  a  realization  of  illumination,  through 
the  years  of  mental  tribulation  such  as  that  en- 
dured by  Mahommed  and  Jesus  and  Buddha. 

We  are  told  that  the  prophet  repeatedly  re- 
futed the  suggestion  of  his  adoring  followers 
that  he  was  God  himself  come  to  earth. 

"It  is  wonderful,"  says  one  of  his  commenta- 
tors, "with  his  temptations,  how  great  a  humility 
was  ever  is,  how  little  he  assumed  of  all  the  god- 
like attributes  men  forced  upon  him.  His  whole 
life  is  one  long  argument  for  his  loyalty  to  truth. 
He  had  but  one  answer  for  his  worshippers,  "I 
am  no  more  than  a  man;  I  am  only  human." 
*  *  *  He  was  sublimely  confident  of  this 
single  attribute  that  he  was  the  messenger  of 
the  Lord  of  the  daybreak,  and  that  the  words  he 
spake  came  verily  from  him.  He  was  fully  per- 
suaded that  God  had  sent  him  to  do  a  great  work 
among  his  people  in  Arabia.  Nervous  to  the 
verge  of  madness,  subject  to  hysteria,  given  to 
wild  dreaming  in  solitary  places,  his  was  a  tem- 
perament that  easily  lends  itself  to  religious  en- 
thusiasm." 

While  it  may  be  argued  that  Mahommed  did 
not  possess  cosmic  consciousness  in  the  degree  of 
fullness  which  we  find  in  the  life  of  St.  Paul, 


216  Cosmic  Consciousness 

for  example,  we  must  take  into  consideration 
the  temperament  of  the  Arab,  and  the  conditions 
under  which  he  labored.  But  that  he  had  at- 
tained a  high  degree  of  Illumination  is  beyond 
dispute.  This  fact  is  evidenced  by  the  following 
salient  points  characteristic  of  cosmic  conscious- 
ness: A  fine  sensitive,  highly-strung  organiza- 
tion; a  deep  and  serious  thoughtfulness,  espe- 
cially regarding  the  realities  of  life;  an  indiffer- 
ence to  the  call  of  personal  ambition;  love  of 
solitude  and  the  mental  urge  that  demands  to 
know  the  answer  to  life's  riddle. 

Following  the  time  of  illumination  on  Mount 
Kara  we  find  Mahommed  possessing  a  convic- 
tion of  the  truth  of  immortality  and  the  good- 
ness of  God;  we  find  him  also  with  a  wonderful 
power  to  draw  people  to  him  in  loving  service; 
and  the  irresistible  desire  to  bring  to  his  people 
the  message  of  immortal  life,  and  the  necessity  to 
look  more  to  spiritual  things  than  to  the  things 
of  the  flesh.  Added  to  this,  we  find  Mahommed 
changed  from  a  shrinking,  sensitive  youth,  given 
to  much  reflection  and  silent  meditation,  into  a 
man  with  perfect  confidence  in  his  own  mission 
and  in  his  ultimate  victory. 


CHAPTER  XII 


While  the  Swedenborgians,  as  a  religious  sect, 
are  not  numerically  sufficient  to  be  reckoned 
among  the  world's  great  religions,  it  is  yet  a 
fact  that  the  followers  of  the  great  Swedish  seer 
and  scientist  hold  a  prominent  place  among  the 
innumerable  sects  which  the  beginning  of  this 
century  finds  flourishing. 

Swedenborg  was  born  in  Stockholm,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1688,  and  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty- four  years. 

Swedenborg  was  well  born ;  he  was  the  son  of 
a  bishop  of  the  Swedish  church,  and  during  his 
lifetime  held  many  positions  of  honor.  He  was 
a  friend  and  adviser  of  the  king,  and  his  expert 
knowledge  of  mining  engineering  gave  him  a 
place  among  the  scientists  of  his  age. 

He  was  a  voluminous  writer,  his  early  work 
being  confined  to  the  phases  of  materialistic 
science,  notably  on  mines  and  metals,  and  later 
upon  man,  in  his  physiological  aspect. 

His  "De  Cerebro  and  Psychologia  Rationales," 
published  in  his  fifty-seventh  year,  showed  a  dif- 
ferent Swedenborg  from  the  one  to  whom  his 
217 


218  Cosmic  Consciousness 

colleagues  were  accustomed  to  refer  with  much 
respect. 

This  book  dealt  with  man,  not  as  a  product  of 
brute  creation,  but  as  an  evolutionary  creature, 
having  at  least  a  possibility  of  divine  origin.  It 
is,  however,  his  "Arcana  Coelestia"  upon  which 
"The  Church  of  the  New  Jerusalem"  is  founded ; 
and  it  is  this  work  which  caused  Swedenborg's 
friends  and  colleagues  to  determine  that  he  had 
become  insane.  It  is,  in  fact,  only  within  very 
recent  years,  that  the  so-called  scientific  world 
has  deigned  to  regard  Swedenborg's  revelations 
with  any  degree  of  serious  and  respectful  atten- 
tion. 

Swedenborg's  Illumination  was  not,  like  that 
of  so  many  others,  who  have  founded  a  new  relig- 
ion, a  sudden  influx  of  spiritual  consciousness, 
but  rather  a  gradual  leading  up  to  the  inevitable 
goal,  by  virtue  of  serious  thought,  deep  study, 
and  a  high  order  of  mentality. 

But  that  the  Swedish  seer  received,  in  full 
measure,  the  blessing  of  cosmic  consciousness,  is 
beyond  doubt. 

Swedenborg's  extremely  simple  habits  of  life; 
his  freedom  from  any  desire  for  display,  or  for 
those  social  advantages  into  which  he  was  born ; 
his  gentleness  and  unassuming  manner,  of  which 
much  is  written  by  his  followers,  all  point  to 
him  as  one  upon  whom  the  blessing  might  read- 


Emanuel  Swedenborg  219 

ily  descend.  Swedenborg  was  a  vegetarian,  but 
this  seems  not  to  be  a  necessary  characteristic  of 
those  possessing  illumination,  although,  when 
cosmic  consciousness  shall  have  become  almost 
general,  vegetarianism  must  inevitably  come 
with  it,  as  animal  life  will  disappear  from  the 
earth. 

Swedenborg,  like  many  others  who  have  per- 
ceived the  cosmic  light,  evidently  believed  that  he 
had  been  specially  selected  and  consecrated  for 
the  work  of  the  new  church.  That  is,  he  took 
his  illumination,  not  as  an  initiation  into  the 
higher  degrees  of  cosmic  truth,  but  as  a  special 
and  personal  revelation.  This  view  characterizes 
those  who  founded  a  new,  or  a  reformed  religious 
system,  while  as  a  matter  of  truth,  the  light 
that  comes  is  a  part  of  the  cosmic  plan,  and  not, 
as  Swedenborg  and  others  imagine,  as  a  per- 
sonal revelation. 

However,  Swedenborg  considered  himself  a 
direct  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  God 
is  alluded  to  as  a  personality.  He  believed  that 
his  great  mission  was  to  disclose  the  true  nature 
of  the  Bible,  and  to  prove  that  it  was  actually  the 
inspired  word  of  God,  having  an  esoteric  mean- 
ing, which  has  wrongly  been  interpreted  to  apply 
to  the  creation  of  a  material  world,  and  to  its 
history  and  its  people,  but  that  when  understood, 
it  explains  clearly,  the  nature  of  God,  and  the 


22O  Cosmic  Consciousness 

nature  of  man,  and  their  relation  to  each  other. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  at  the  time  Sweden- 
borg  wrote  his  theological  works,  the  church  had 
fallen  into  rank  materialism  and  superstition. 
That  Swedenborg  should  have  received  his  illu- 
mination, or  revelation,  direct  from  the  Lord, 
oniy  serves  to  prove  that  the  mortal  conscious- 
ness clothes  the  revelation  with  whatever  per- 
sonality appeals  to  it,  as  having  authority. 

Thus,  the  angel  Gabriel  was  the  dictator  in  the 
case  of  Mahommed,  and  the  "Blessed  Mother" 
of  the  Hindu  reveals  to  them  the  vision  of  mukti. 
Swedenborg  says  of  his  vision:  "God  appeared 
to  me  and  said,  'I  am  the  Lord  God,  the  Creator 
and  Redeemer  of  the  world.  I  have  chosen  thee 
to  unfold  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. I  will  myself  dictate  to  thee  what  thou 
shalt  write.'" 

In  "The  True  Christian  Religion,"  published 
shortly  before  his  death  he  says:  "Since  the 
Lord  can  not  manifest  Himself  in  person  as  has 
been  shown,  and  yet  He  has  foretold  that  He 
would  come  and  establish  a  new  church,  which 
is  the  New  Jerusalem,  it  follows  that  He  is  to 
do  it,  by  means  of  a  man,  who  is  able  not  only 
to  receive  the  doctrines  of  this  church  with  his 
understanding,  but  also  to  publish  them  by  the 
press.  That  the  Lord  has  manifested  Himself 
before  me,  His  servant,  and  sent  me  on  this 


Etnanuel  Swedenborg  221 

office,  and  that,  after  this,  He  opened  the  sight 
of  my  spirit,  and  thus  let  me  into  the  spiritual 
world,  and  gave  me  to  see  the  heavens  and  the 
hells  and  also  to  speak  with  spirits  and  angels, 
and  this  now  continually  for  many  years,  I  tes- 
tify in  truth;  and  also  that,  from  the  first  day 
of  that  call,  I  have  not  received  anything  that 
pertains  to  the  doctrines  of  that  church  from 
my  angel,  but  from  the  Lord  alone,  while  I  read 
the  Word." 

It  is  stated  with  great  positiveness  by  Sweden- 
borg's  followers,  and  indeed,  apparently  by  the 
seer  himself,  if  we  may  take  as  authoritative,  the 
translations  of  his  works,  that  the  revelations 
accorded  to  him  covered  a  period  of  many  years, 
whereas,  we  find  in  most  instances  of  cosmic 
consciousness,  the  illumined  ones  have  alluded 
to  some  specific  time,  as  the  great  event,  even 
while  claiming  that  the  effect  of  this  illumination 
remains  indefinitely — in  fact,  forms  a  part  of  a 
wider  area  of  consciousness  which  is  ever  increas- 
ing. 

But  when  we  take  the  numerous  instances  of 
revelations,  in  which  the  devout  ones  firmly  be- 
lieve that  they  and  they  alone  have  been  accorded 
the  vision,  we  must  realize  that  this  phenomenon 
is  impersonal,  looked  at  as  a  favor  to  any  one 
human  being.  By  that  we  mean  that  Illumina- 
tion comes  to  every  soul  who  has  earned  it, 


222  Cosmic  Consciousness 

just  as  mathematically  as  the  sun  seems  to  set, 
after  the  earth  has  made  its  hourly  journey. 

//  Perhaps  this  comparison  is  not  as  clear  as  to 
say:  when  the  normal  child  has  grown  to  man- 

/  hood  or  womanhood,  his  consciousness  has 
widened,  beyond  that  of  the  infant;  not  exclud- 

I  ing  that  of  the  infant  but  inclusive  of  all  hitherto 
acquired  knowledge.  Without  in  any  degree 
lessening  the  importance  and  the  verity  of 

VNSwedenborg's  visions,  it  may  be  assumed  that  his 
record  of  these  visions  and  their  meaning  has 
partaken  more  or  less  of  the  limitations  of  mor- 
tal mind. 

Spiritual  consciousness  can  not  be  set  down 

;  in  terms  of  sense.     The  external  world  symbol- 

•  izes   spiritual  truths;   each   interpreter  must  of 

•  necessity  weave  into  his  interpretation  and  at- 
tempt at  finite  expression  of  these  truths,  some- 

•  thing  of  his  own  mortal  consciousness;  and  this 
.  "mortal  mind"  consciousness  is  bound  to  partake 

of  the  time  and  age,  and  conditions  of  environ- 
v  ment  of  the  person  who  has  experienced  the 
.^revelation. 

Making  due  allowance,  therefore,  for  the  im- 
possibility of  exact  expression  of  any  spiritual 
illumination,  we  find  in  the  revelation  of  Sweden- 
borg  exactly  what  we  find  in  all  who  have  at- 
tained to  cosmic  consciousness,  namely,  the  abso- 
lute, confidential  assurance  of  immortal  life;  the 


Emanuel  Swedenborg  223 

conviction  that  creation  is  under  divine  love  and 
wisdom,  administered  by  Cosmic  Law  and  order, 
or  Justice,  and  the  final  "redemption"  (i.  e.,  evo- 
lution), of  all  men.  In  his  "Conjugal  Love," 
Swedenborg  touches  upon  the  premise  which  we 
declare,  as  the  foundation  of  all  cosmic  conscious- 
ness, namely  the  attainment  of  spiritual  union 
with  the  "mate"  which  we  believe  to  be  insep- 
arable from  all  creation;  the  reunited  principle 
which  we  see  expressed  in  the  male  and  female, 
whether  in  plant,  bird,  animal,  man,  or  angel; 
the  "twain  made  one"  which  Jesus  declared  would 
be  the  sign  manual  of  the  coming  of  his  king- 
dom ;  that  is,  the  coming  of  cosmic  consciousness 
— the  kingdom  of  pure  and  perfect  love  upon 
earth  as  it  is  in  the  heavens. 

In  Corinthians  (11:12)  we  read: 

"For  as  the  woman  is  of  the  man,  so  is  the 
man  also  of  the  woman;  for  the  woman  is  not 
without  the  man,  nor  the  man  without  the  woman 
in  the  Lord." 

Which  is  to  say,  that  in  the  attainment  of  cos- 
mic consciousness  (in  the  Lord),  the  "twain  are 
made  one,"  and  immortality  (i.  e.,  immunity  from 
reincarnation)  is  gained,  because  of  this  union. 
God  is  a  bi-sexual  Being.  This  fact  is  evidenced 
throughout  all  creation.  To  attain  to  immortal- 
ity is  to  become  as  God.  In  this  day  and  age  of 
the  world  we  have  come  into  a  realization  of 


224  Cosmic  Consciousness 

the  Father-Mother  idea  of  godhood,  clearly  and 
literally  signifying  the  coming  consciousness 
which  is  bi-sexual;  male  and  female;  perfect 
counterparts,  or  complements  and  through  which 
alone,  this  earth  can  be  made  a  "fit  dwelling  place 
for  gods."  This,  too,  is  the  message  of  the  great 
seer  Swedenborg,  as  it  relates  to  love,  as  it  is, 
when  rightly  understood  and  interpreted,  of  all 
who  have  felt  the  blessing  of  perfection,  as  ex- 
emplified in  Illumination. 

The  fundamental  points  of  Swedenborg's  doc- 
trine agree  with  those  of  all  other  Illumined 
ones,  who  have  founded  a  system  of  worship; 
a  "Way  of  Illumination"  it  may  be  called ;  or  in 
whose  name  such  systems  have  been  formed. 
That  is,  he  testified  to: 

A  conviction  of  immortality; 

A  realization  of  absolute  justice,  whereby  all 
souls  shall  finally  come  into  cosmic  consciousness. 

An  actual  time  when  Christ  (the  cosmic  illu- 
mination) shall  come  to  earth. 

A  great  and  abiding  love  for  and  patience 
with  the  frailties  of  his  sense-conscious  fellow- 
beings  ; 

A  transcendent  desire  to  bestow  upon  all  men, 
the  blessing  of  cosmic  consciousness. 

Few  if  any,  have  ever  attained  a  full  and 
complete  realization  of  cosmic  consciousness  and 
remained  in  the  physical  body. 


Emanuel  Swedenborg 

Those  who  have  attained  and  retained  the  high- 
est degree  of  this  glimpse  of  the  Paradise  of  the 
gods,  find  it  practically  impossible  to  describe  or 
explain  the  sensations  experienced,  even  though 
they  are  more  convinced  of  the  truth  and  the 
reality  of  this  realm  than  of  anything  in  the 
merely  sense-conscious  life. 

Lastly,  let  us  not  lose  sight  of  the  all-impor- 
tant fact  that  no  one  system,  creed,  philosophy, 
or  way  of  Illumination  will  answer  for  all  types 
and  degrees  of  men.  "All  things  work  together 
for  good"  to  those  who  have  the  keenness  of 
vision  which  precedes  the  full  attainment  of 
cosmic  consciousness,  as  well  as  to  those  who 
have  grasped  its  full  significance. 

The  characteristic  evidence  of  the  potential- 
ity of  the  present  era  of  the  world,  is  preemi- 
nently that  of  a  desire  for  unity. 

This  desire  is  expressed  in  all  the  avenues  of 
external  life;  its  inner  meaning  is  obscured  by 
commercialism  and  self-interest,  as  in  trusts  and 
labor  unions,  but  it  is  there  nevertheless — the 
symbol  of  the  inner  urge  toward  unity  in  con- 
sciousness. It  is  found  in  efforts  at  Communism, 
and  in  allied  reform  movements.  It  is  particu- 
larly evident  in  the  breaking  down  of  church 
prejudices.  In  these  days  a  Catholic  priest  and  a 
Jewish  rabbi  find  it  not  only  expedient  but  mu- 
tually helpful,  to  unite  in  the  work  of  municipal 


226  Cosmic  Consciousness 

reform;  in  the  abolition  of  child  labor;  in  all 
things  that  will  bring  a  better  state  of  existence 
into  daily  human  life. 

The  business  man  uses  the  phrase  "let  us  get 
together  on  this"  without  knowing  that  he  is  ex- 
pressing in  terms  of  sense-consciousness,  the  urge 
of  his  own  and  his  fellow  beings'  inner  mind, 
which  senses  the  fact  of  our  unescapable  Brother- 
hood. 

All  religious  systems  then,  are  good,  as  are  all 
systems  of  philosophy.  They  are  good  because 
they  are  an  attempt  at  bringing  into  the  per- 
spective of  the  mortal  mind  the  reality  of  the  soul 
and  the  soul  life;  the  rule  of  the  spiritually  con- 
scious ego  over  the  physical  body  in  order  that 
we  may  now,  in  our  present  incarnation,  claim 
immortality. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

MODERN  EXAMPLES  OF  INTELLEC- 
TUAL COSMIC  CONSCIOUSNESS:  EM- 
ERSON; TOLSTOI;  BALZAC 

Passing  over  the  ancient  philosophers,  Aris- 
totle, Albertus  Magnus,  Plotinus,  Marcus  Au- 
relius,  Pascal,  Socrates,  Plato,  Aspasia,  and  oth- 
ers, all  of  whom  had  glimpsed,  if  not  fully  at- 
tained, cosmic  consciousness,  we  come  to  a  con- 
sideration of  those  cases  in  our  own  day  and 
age,  in  which  this  superior  consciousness  has 
found  expression  through  intellectual  rather  than 
through  religious  channels. 

Of  these  latter,  no  more  illustrious  example  can 
be  cited  than  that  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  the 
sage  of  Concord. 

Emerson's  nature  was  essentially  religious,  but 
his  religion  was  not  of  the  emotional  quality  so 
often  found  among  enthusiasts,  and  which  is 
almost  always  openly  expressed  when  this  re- 
ligious enthusiasm  is  not  balanced  by  intellectu- 
ality. 

Analysis  is  frequently  a  foe  to  inspiration,  but 
there  are  rare  instances  where  the  intellect  is  of 
such  a  penetrating  and  extraordinary  quality  that 
227 


228  Cosmic  Consciousness 

it  carries  the  power  of  analysis  into  the  unseen; 
in  fact  what  we  habitually  term  the  unseen  is  a 
part  of  the  visible  to  this  type  of  mind.  True  in- 
tellect is  a  natural  inheritance,  a  karmic  attribute. 
The  spurious  kind  is  the  result  of  education,  and 
it  invariably  has  its  limitations.  It  stops  short 
of  the  finer  vibrations  of  consciousness  and  de- 
nies the  reality  of  the  inner  life  of  man — which 
inner  life  constitutes  the  real  to  the  character  of 
intellect  that  penetrates  beyond  maya. 

Of  such  a  quality  of  intellect  is  that  exempli- 
fied in  Emerson.  No  mere  tabulator  of  facts 
was  he,  but  a  dissector  of  the  causes  back  of  all 
the  manifestation  which  he  observed  and  studied 
and  classified  with  the  mental  power  of  a  god. 

Nor  is  there  lacking  ample  proof  that  Emer- 
son experienced  the  phenomenon  of  the  sudden- 
ness of  cosmic  consciousness — a  degree  of  which 
he  seems  to  have  possessed  from  earliest  youth. 

In  his  essay  on  Nature,  we  find  these  words: 

"Crossing  a  bare  common  in  snow  puddles  at 
twilight,  under  a  clouded  sky,  without  having  in 
my  thoughts  any  occurrence  of  special  good  for- 
tune, I  have  enjoyed  a  perfect  exhilaration.  I  am 
glad  to  the  brink  of  fear." 

Emerson  here  alluded  to  a  feeling  of  fear, 
which  seems  to  have  been  experienced  during  a 
certain  stage  by  many  of  those  who  have  entered 
into  cosmic  consciousness. 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness      229 

This  fear  is  doubtless  due  to  the  presence  in 
the  human  organism  of  what  we  may  term  the 
"animal  instinct,"  which  is  an  inheritance  of  the 
physical  body.  This  same  peculiar  phenomenon 
oppresses  almost  everyone  when  coming  into  con- 
tact with  a  new  and  hitherto  untried  force. 

A  certain  lady,  who  relates  her  experience  in 
entering  into  the  cosmic  conscious  state,  says: 
"A  certain  part  of  me  was  unafraid,  certain,  se- 
cure and  content,  at  the  same  time  my  mortal 
consqiousness  felt  an  almost  overwhelming  sense 
of  fear." 

Continuing,  Emerson  says : 

"All  mean  egotism  vanishes.  I  become  a  trans- 
parent eyeball ;  I  am  nothing ;  I  see  all ;  the  cur- 
rents of  the  Universal  Being  circulate  through 
me ;  I  am  part  or  particle  of  God." 

Emerson's  powerful  intellect  would  naturally 
describe  such  an  experience  in  intellectual  terms 
rather  than,  as  in  the  instances  heretofore  re- 
corded, in  religious  phraseology,  but  it  must  not 
be  inferred  that  Emerson  was  less  religious,  in 
the  true  sense,  than  was  Mahommed  or  St.  Paul. 

Emerson  lived  in  an  age  when  orthodoxy  flour- 
ished, and  he  and  his  associates  of  the  Trans- 
cendentalist  cult,  were  regarded  as  non-religious, 
if  not  actually  heretical.  Therefore,  it  is  that  Em- 
erson's keen  intellect  was  brought  to  bear  upon 
everything  he  encountered,  not  only  in  his  own 


230  Cosmic  Consciousness 

intimate  experience  but  also  in  all  that  he  read 
and  heard,  lest  he  be  trapped  into  committing 
the  error  which  he  saw  all  about  him,  namely, 
of  mistaking  an  accepted  viewpoint  as  an  article 
of  actual  faith.  His  way  to  the  Great  Light  lay 
through  the  jungle  of  the  mind,  but  he  found 
the  path  clear  and  plain  and  he  left  a  torchlight 
along  the  way. 

Emerson  fully  recognized  the  illusory  character 
of  external  life,  and  the  eternal  verity  of  the  soul, 
as  witness: 

"If  the  red  slayer  thinks  he  slays, 
Or  if  the  slain  thinks  he  is  slain, 

They  know  not  well,  the  subtle  ways, 
I  keep  and  pass  and  turn  again." 

Horrible  as  is  wrar,  because  of  the  spirit  of 
hate  and  destruction  it  embodies  and  keeps  alive, 
yet  the  fact  remains  that  man  in  his  soul  knows 
that  he  can  neither  slay  nor  be  slain  by  the  mere 
act  of  destroying  the  physical  shell  called  the 
body.  It  is  inconceivable  that  human  beings 
would  lend  themselves  to  warfare,  if  they  did 
not  know,  as  a  part  of  that  area  of  supra-con- 
sciousness,  that  there  is  a  something  over  which 
bullets  have  no  power. 

This  fact,  regarded  as  a  more  or  less  vague 
belief  to  the  majority,  becomes  incontrovertible 
'fact  to  the  person  who  has  entered  cosmic  con- 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness      231 

sciousness.  His  view  is  reversed,  and  where  he 
formerly  looked  from  the  sense-conscious  plane 
forward  into  a  possible  spiritual  plane,  he  now 
gazes  back  over  the  path  from  the  spiritual 
heights  and  sees  the  winding  road  that  led  up- 
ward to  the  elevation,  much  as  a  traveller  on 
the  mountain  top  looks  back  and  for  the  first  time 
sees  all  of  the  devious  trail  over  which  he  has 
climbed  to  his  present  vantage  point.  During  the 
journey  there  had  been  many  times  when  he  could 
only  see  the  next  step  ahead,  and  nothing  but  his 
faith  in  the  assurance  of  his  fellow  men  who  had 
attained  the  summit  of  that  mountain,  could  ever 
have  sustained  him  through  the  perils  of  the 
climb,  but  once  on  the  heights,  his  backward  view 
takes  in  the  details  of  the  journey  and  sees  not 
"through  a  glass  darkly,"  but  in  the  clear  light 
of  achievement. 

Such  is  the  effect  of  cosmic  consciousness  to 
the  one  who  has  seen  the  light. 

"One  of  the  benefits  of  a  college  education," 
says  Emerson,  "is  to  show  the  boy  its  little 
avail." 

Does  this  imply  that  an  unlettered  mind  is  de- 
sirable? Not  necessarily,  but  there  is  a  phase  of 
intellectual  culture  that  is  detrimental  while  it 
lasts. 

It  is  as  though  one  were  to  choke  up  a  per- 
fectly flowing  stream  which  yielded  the  moisture 


232  Cosmic  Consciousness 

to  fertile  lands,  by  filling  the  bed  of  the  stream 
with  rocks  and  sticks. 

The  flow  of  the  spiritual  currents  becomes 
clogged  by  the  activities  of  the  mind  in  its  acqui' 
sition  of  mere  knowledge,  and  before  that  knowl- 
edge has  been  turned  into  wisdom.  The  same 
truth  is  expressed  in  the  aphorism  "a  little  knowl- 
edge is  a  dangerous  thing."  It  is  dangerous 
because  it  chains  the  mind  to  the  external  things 
of  life,  whereas  the  totally  unlettered  (we  do 
not  use  the  term  ignorant  here)  person  will,  if 
he  have  his  heart  filled  with  love,  perceive  the 
reality  of  spiritual  things  that  transcend  mere 
knowledge  of  the  physical  universe. 

Beyond  this  plane  of  mortal  mind-conscious- 
ness, which  is  fitly  described  as  "dangerous," 
there  is  the  wide  open  area  of  cosmic  perception, 
which  may  lead  ultimately  to  the  limitless  areas 
of  cosmic  consciousness.  If,  therefore,  an  edu- 
cation, whether  acquired  in  or  out  of  college,  so 
whets  the  grain  of  the  mind  that  it  becomes  keen 
and  fine  enough  to  realize  that  knowledge  is  val- 
uable ONLY  as  it  leads  to  real  wisdom,  then  in- 
deed it  is  a  benefit;  unless  it  does  this,  it  is  tem- 
porarily an  obstruction. 

Out  of  the  lower  into  the  higher  vibration; 
out  of  sense-consciousness  into  cosmic  conscious- 
ness; out  of  organization  and  limitations  into 
freedom — the  freedom  of  perfection,  is  the  law 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness       233 

and  the  purpose.  This  Emerson  with  his  clear- 
ness of  spiritual  vision,  saw,  and  this  premise  he 
subjected  to  the  microscopic  lens  of  his  pene- 
trating intellect.  In  his  essay  on  Fate  he  says: 

"Fate  involves  amelioration.  No  statement  of 
the  Universe  can  have  any  soundness  which  does 
not  admit  its  ascending  effort.  The  direction  of 
the  whole  and  of  the  parts  is  toward  benefit.  Be- 
hind every  individual  closes  organization;  be' 
fore  him  opens  liberty.  *  *  *  The  Better; 
the  Best.  The  first  and  worse  races  are  dead. 
The  second  and  imperfect  races  are  dying  out, 
or  remain  for  the  maturing  of  higher.  In  the 
latest  race,  in  man,  every  generosity,  every  new 
perception,  the  love  and  praise  he  extorts  from 
his  fellows,  are  certificates  of  advance  out  of 
fate  into  freedom'* 

This  phrase,  "out  of  fate  into  freedom,"  may 
be  read  to  mean,  literally,  out  of  the  bondage  of 
the  sense-conscious  life  which  entails  rebirth  and 
continued  experience,  into  the  light  of  Illumina- 
tion which  makes  us  free. 

Further  commenting,  Emerson  says: 

"Liberation  of  the  will  from  the  sheaths  and 
clogs  of  organization  which  he  has  outgrown,  is 
the  end  and  aim  of  the  world  *  *  *  The 
whole  circle  of  animal  life — tooth  against  tooth, 
devouring  war,  war  for  food,  a  yelp  of  pain  and 
a  grunt  of  triumph,  until  at  last  the  whole  men- 


234  Cosmic  Consciousness 

agerie,  the  whole  chemical  mass,  is  mellowed  and 
refined  for  higher  use  *  *  * 

The  sense  of  unity  which  is  so  inseparable 
from  the  cosmic  conscious  state,  was  always  up- 
permost in  Emerson's  mind.  Neither  did  he 
ever  present  as  unity  that  state  of  consciousness 
that  may  be  termed  organization-consciousness — 
group-consciousness  it  is  often  called.  He  re- 
alized that  the  person  who  stands  for  Individu- 
alism is  much  more  than  apt  to  recognize  his  in- 
dissoluble relationship  with  the  Cosmos.  A  per- 
ception of  unity  is  a  complement  of  Individ- 
ualism. 

That  which,  in  modern  metaphysical  phrase- 
ology, is  best  termed  "The  Absolute,"  was  ex- 
pressed by  Emerson  as  the  Over-Soul,  and  this 
term  meant  something  much  greater,  more  un- 
escapable,  than  the  anthropomorfic  God  of  the 
church-goers.  His  assurance  of  unity  with  this 
Divine  Spiritual  Essence  was  perfect.  It  savors 
more  of  what  is  termed  the  religious  view  of  life 
than  of  the  philosophic,  but  we  contend  that  in 
the  coming  era  of  the  cosmic  conscious  man,  all 
life  will  be  religious,  in  the  true  sense,  and  that 
there  will  be  no  dividing  line  between  philosophy 
and  worship,  because  worship  will  consist  of  liv- 
ing the  life  of  the  spiritual  man,  and  not  in  any 
set  forms  or  rites.  Bearing  upon  this  we  find 
Emerson  saying: 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness      235 

"Not  thanks,  not  prayer,  seem  quite  the  high- 
est or  truest  name  for  our  communion  with  the 
infinite — but  glad  and  conspiring  reception — re- 
ception that  becomes  giving  in  its  turn  as  the 
receiver  is  only  the  All-Giver  in  part  and  in  in- 
fancy. I  cannot — nor  can  any  man — speak  pre- 
cisely of  things  so  sublime,  but  it  seems  to  me 
the  wit  of  man,  his  strength,  his  grace,  and  his 
tendency,  his  art,  is  the  grace  and  the  presence 
of  God.  It  is  beyond  explanation.  When  all 
is  said  and  done,  the  rapt  saint  is  found  the  only 
logician.  Not  exhortation  nor  argument  be- 
comes our  lips,  but  paeans  of  joy  and  praise. 
But  not  of  adulation;  we  are  too  nearly  related 
in  the  deep  of  the  mind  to  that  we  honor.  It 
is  God  in  us  that  checks  the  language  of  petition 
by  a  grander  thought.  In  the  bottom  of  the 
heart  it  is  said,  'I  am  and  by  me,  O  child,  this 
fair  body  and  world  of  thine  stands  and  grows; 
I  am,  all  things  are  mine;  and  all  mine  are 
thine.'  " 

We  could  quote  passages  from  the  essays  ad 
infinitum,  showing  conclusively  that  the  cosmic 
conscious  plane  had  been  attained  and  retained  by 
this  great  philosopher — one  of  the  first  of  the 
early  part  of  the  century,  which  has  been  prophe- 
sied as  the  beginning  of  the  first  faint  lights  of 
the  Dawn,  but  enough  has  been  offered  for  our 
present  purpose,  that  of  establishing  the  salient 


236  Cosmic  Consciousness 

points  of  the  cosmic  conscious  man  or  woman, 
which  points  are  the  complete  assurance  of  the 
eternal  verity  and  indestructibility  of  the  soul; 
of  its  ultimate  and  inevitable  victory  over  maya 
or  the  "wheel  of  causation" ;  and  the  joyousness 
and  the  sense  of  at-one-ness  with  the  universe, 
which  comes  to  the  illumined  one,  bespeaking  an 
unquenchable  optimism  and  an  utter  destruction 
of  the  sense  of  sin — points  which  characterize  all 
who  have  attained  to  this  supra-conscious  state  of 
Being. 

These  points  are  all  expressed  repeatedly  in 
all  Emerson's  utterances  and  mark  him  as  one 
of  the  most  illumined  philosophers,  as  he  was 
one  of  the  greatest  intellects  of  the  last  century, 
or  of  any  other  century. 

LEO  TOLSTOI:  RUSSIAN  PHILOSOPHER 

A  strange,  lonely  and  wonderful  figure  was 
Tolstoi,  novelist,  philosopher,  socialist,  artist  and 
reformer. 

Great  souls  are  always  lonely  souls,  estimated 
by  sense-conscious  humans.  In  the  midst  of  the 
so-called  pleasures  and  luxuries  of  the  senses,  a 
wise  soul  appears  as  barren  of  comfort  as  is  a 
desert  of  foliage. 

Without  the  divine  optimism  that  comes  from 
soul-consciousness,  such  a  one  could  not  endure 
the  life  of  the  body;  without  the  absolute  assur- 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness      237 

ance  that  comes  with  cosmic  consciousness,  men 
like  the  late  Count  Tolstoi  must  needs  die  of 
soul-loneliness. 

From  early  childhood  up  to  the  time  of  his  Il- 
lumination Tolstoi  indulged  in  seriousness  of 
thought.  Like  Mahommed,  great  and  overpow- 
ering desire  to  fathom  the  mystery  of  death  took 
possession  of  him.  He  was  ever  haunted  by  an 
excessive  dread  of  the  "darkness  of  the  grave," 
and  in  his  essay,  "Childhood,"  he  describes  with 
that  wonderful  realism,  which  characterizes  all 
his  works,  the  effect  on  a  child's  mind  of  seeing 
the  face  of  his  dead  mother.  This  may  be  taken 
in  a  sense  as  biographical,  although  it  is  not  prob- 
able that  Tolstoi  here  alludes  to  the  death  of  his 
own  mother  as  she  died  when  he  was  too  young 
to  have  remembered.  He  describes  the  scene  in 
the  words  of  Irteniev: 

"I  could  not  believe  that  this  was  her  face.  I 
began  to  look  at  it  more  closely,  and  gradually 
discovered  in  it  the  familiar  and  beloved  features. 
I  shuddered  with  fear  when  I  became  sure  that 
it  was  indeed  she,  but  why  were  the  closed  eyes 
so  fallen  in  ?  Why  was  she  so  terribly  pale,  and 
why  was  there  a  blackish  mark  under  the  clear 
skin  on  one  cheek  ?" 

A  terror  of  death,  and  yet  a  haunting  urge 
that  compelled  him  to  be  forever  thinking  upon 
the  mystery  of  it,  is  the  dominant  note  in  every 


238  Cosmic  Consciousness 

line  of  Tolstoi's  writings  up  to  the  time  which 
he  describes  as  "a  change"  that  came  over  him. 

For  example,  when  Count  Leo  was  in  his  33d 
year,  his  brother  Nicolai  died.  Leo  was  present 
at  the  bedside  and  described  the  scene  with  the 
utmost  frankness  regarding  its  effect  upon  his 
mind;  and  again  we  note  that  awful  fear  and 
hopeless  questioning  which  characterizes  the 
sense-conscious  man  whose  intellect  has  been  cul- 
tivated to  the  very  edge  of  the  line  which  sep- 
arates the  self-conscious  life  from  the  cosmic 
conscious. 

This  questioning,  with  the  fear  and  dread  and 
terror  of  death  and  of  the  "ceaseless  round  of 
births"  and  the  cares  and  sorrows-  of  existence 
was  what  drove  Prince  Siddhartha  from  his 
father's  court  and  Mahommed  into  the  mountains 
to  meditate  and  pray  until  the  answer  came  in 
the  light  of  illumination. 

It  came  to  Tolstoi  through  the  very  intensity 
of  his  powers  of  reason  and  analysis;  through 
the  sword-like  quality  of  mental  urge — a  much 
more  sorrowful  path  than  the  one  through  the 
simple  way  of  love  and  service  and  prayer. 

His  comments  upon  the  death  of  his  brother 
give  us  a  vivid  idea  of  the  state  of  mind  of  the 
Tolstoi  of  that  age : 

"Never  in  my  life  has  anything  had  such  an 
effect  upon  me.  He  was  right  (referring  to  his 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness      239 

brother's  words)  when  he  said  to  me  there  is 
nothing  worse  than  death,  and  if  you  remember 
that  death  is  the  inevitable  goal  of  all  that  lives, 
then  it  must  be  confessed  that  there  is  nothing 
poorer  than  life.  Why  should  we  be  so  careful 
when  at  the  end  of  all  things  nothing  remains 
of  what  was  once  Nicolai  Tolstoi?  Suddenly  he 
started  up  and  murmured  in  alarm:  'What  is 
this?'  He  saw  that  he  was  passing  into  noth- 
ingness." 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Tolstoi 
of  those  days  was  a  materialist  pure  and  simple. 
"He  saw  that  he  was  passing  into  nothingness," 
he  said  of  his  brother,  as  though  there  could  be 
no  question  as  to  the  nothingness  of  the  indi- 
vidual consciousness  that  he  had  known  as  Nico- 
lai, his  brother. 

This  soul-harrowing  materialism  haunted  Tol- 
stoi during  all  the  years  of  his  youth  and  early 
manhood,  and  threw  him  constantly  into  fits  of 
melancholy  and  inner  brooding.  He  could  neither 
dismiss  the  subject  from  his  mind,  nor  could  he 
bring  into  the  area  of  his  mortal  consciousness 
that  serene  contemplation  and  optimistic  line  of 
reasoning  which  marks  all  that  Emerson  wrote. 

Tolstoi's  morbid  horror  of  decay  and  death 
was  not  in  any  sense  due  to  a  lack  of  physical 
courage.  It  was  the  inevitable  repulsion  of  a 
strong  and  robust  animalism  of  the  body,  coupled 


240  Cosmic  Consciousness 

with  a  powerful  mentality — both  of  which  are 
barriers  to  the  "still  small  voice"  of  the  soul, 
through  which  alone  comes  the  conviction  of  the 
nothingness  of  death. 

A  biographer  says  of  Tolstoi : 

"The  fit  of  the  fear  of  death  which  at  the  end 
of  the  seventies  brought  him  to  the  verge  of  sui- 
cide, was  not  the  first  and  apparently  not  the 
last  and  at  any  rate  not  the  only  one.  He  felt 
something  like  it  fifteen  years  before  when  his 
brother  Nicolai  died.  Then  he  fell  ill  and  con- 
jectured the  presence  of  the  complaint  that  killed 
his  brother — consumption.  He  had  constant 
pain  in  his  chest  and  side.  He  had  to  go  and  try 
to  cure  himself  in  the  Steppe  by  a  course  of  kou- 
miss, and  did  actually  cure  himself.  Formerly 
these  recurrent  attacks  of  spiritual  or  physical 
weakness  were  cured  in  him,  not  by  any  mental 
or  moral  upheavals,  but  simply  by  his  vitality, 
its  exuberance  and  intoxication." 

The  birth  of  the  new  consciousness  which 
came  to  Tolstoi  a  few  years  later,  was  born  into 
existence  through  these  terrible  struggles  and 
mental  agonies,  inevitable  because  of  the  very 
nature  of  his  heredity  and  education  and  environ- 
ment. Although  as  we  know,  he  came  of  gentle- 
folk, there  was  much  of  the  Russian  peasant  in 
Tolstoi's  makeup.  His  organism,  both  as  to 
physical  and  mental  elements,  was  like  a  piece  of 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness      241 

solid  iron,  untempered  by  the  refining  processes 
of  an  inherent  spirituality.  His  never-ceasing 
struggle  for  attainment  of  the  degree  of  cosmic 
consciousness  which  he  finally  reached  was  wholly 
an  intellectual  struggle.  He  possessed  such  a 
power  of  analysis,  such  a  depth  of  intellectual 
perception,  that  he  must  needs  go  on  or  go  mad 
with  the  strain  of  the  question  unanswered. 

To  such  a  mind,  the  admonition  to  "never  mind 
about  those  questions;  don't  think  about  them," 
fell  upon  dull  ears.  He  could  no  more  cease 
thinking  upon  the  mysteries  of  life  and  death 
than  he  could  cease  respiration.  Nor  could  he 
blindly  trust.  He  must  know.  Nothing  is  more 
unescapable  than  the  soul's  urge  toward  freedom 
— and  freedom  can  be  won  only  by  liberation 
from  the  bondage  of  illusion. 

Tolstoi's  friends  and  biographers  agree  that 
along  about  his  forty-fifth  year,  a  great  moral 
and  religious  change  took  place.  The  whole 
trend  of  his  thoughts  turned  from  the  mortal 
consciousness  to  that  inner  self  whence  issues 
the  higher  qualities  of  mankind. 

From  a  man  who,  although  he  was  a  great 
writer  and  a  Russian  nobleman,  was  yet  a  man 
like  others  of  his  kind,  influenced  by  traditionary 
ideas  of  class  and  outward  appearance;  a  man 
of  conventional  habits  and  ideas ;  Tolstoi  emerged 
a  free  soul.  He  shook  off  the  illusion  of  his- 


242  Cosmic  Consciousness 

torical  life  and  culture,  and  stood  upon  free, 
moral  ground,  estimating  himself  and  his  fel- 
lo\vs  by  means  of  an  insight  which  ignores  the 
world's  conventions  and  despises  the  world's 
standards  of  success.  In  short,  Tolstoi  had  re- 
ceived Illumination  and  henceforth  should  be 
reckoned  among  those  of  the  new  birth. 

In  his  own  words,  written  in  1879,  this  change 
is  described: 

"Five  years  ago  a  change  took  place  in  me. 
I  began  to  experience  at  first  times  of  mental 
vacuity,  of  cessation  of  life,  as  if  I  did  not  know 
why  I  was  to  live  or  what  I  was  to  do.  These 
suspensions  of  life  always  found  expression  in 
the  same  problem,  'Why  am  I  here?'  and  then 
'What  next?'  I  had  lived  and  lived  and  gone 
on  and  on  till  I  had  drawn  near  a  precipice;  I 
saw  clearly  that  before  me  there  lay  nothing  but 
destruction.  With  all  my  might  I  endeavored  to 
escape  from  this  life.  And  suddenly  I,  a  happy 
man,  began  to  hide  my  bootlaces  that  I  might  not 
hang  myself  between  the  wardrobes  in  my  room 
when  undressing  at  night;  and  ceased  to  take  a 
gun  with  me  out  shooting,  so  as  to  avoid  tempta- 
tion by  these  two  means  of  freeing  myself  from 
this  life  *  *  * 

"I  lived  in  this  way  (that  is  to  say,  in  com- 
munion with  the  people)  for  two  years;  and  a 
change  took  place  in  me.  What  befell  me  was 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness      243 

that  the  life  of  our  class — the  wealthy  and  cul- 
tured— not  only  became  repulsive  to  me,  but  lost 
all  significance.  All  our  actions,  our  judgments, 
science,  and  art  itself,  appeared  to  me  in  a  new 
light.  I  realized  that  it  was  all  self-indulgence, 
and  that  it  was  useless  to  look  for  any  meaning 
in  it.  I  hated  myself  and  acknowledged  the 
truth.  Now  it  had  all  become  clear  to  me." 

From  this  time  on,  Tolstoi's  life  was  that  of 
one  who  had  entered  into  cosmic  consciousness, 
as  we  note  the  effects  in  others.  Desire  for  soli- 
tude a  taste  for  the  simple,  natural  things  of 
life,  possessed  him.  The  primitive  peasants  and 
their  coarse  but  wholesome  food  appealed  to 
him.  It  was  not  a  penance  that  Tolstoi  imposed 
upon  himself,  that  caused  him  to  abandon  the 
life  of  a  country  gentleman  for  that  of  a  hut  in 
the  woods.  The  penance  would  come  to  such  a 
one  from  enforced  living  in  the  glare  of  the 
world's  artificialities.  Cosmic  consciousness  be- 
stows above  all  things  a  taste  for  simplicity;  it 
restores  the  normal  condition  of  mankind,  the  in- 
timacy with  nature  and  the  feeling  of  kinship 
with  nature-children. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  here  to  enter  into  any 
detailed  biography  of  these  instances  of  cosmic 
consciousness.  The  point  we  wish  to  make  is  the 
fact  that  the  birth  of  this  new  consciousness  fre- 
quently comes  through  much  mental  travail  and 


244  Cosmic  Consciousness 

agonies  of  doubt,  speculation  and  questioning; 
but  that  it  is  worth  the  price  paid,  however  seem- 
ingly great,  there  can  be  no  possible  distrust. 

HONORE  DE  BALZAC 

Balzac  should  head  this  chapter,  if  we  were 
considering  these  philosophers  in  chronological 
order,  as  Balzac  was  born  in  1799,  preceding  Em- 
erson by  a  matter  of  four  years.  But  Balzac's 
peculiar  temperament  might  almost  be  classed  as 
a  religious  rather  than  strictly  intellectual  ex- 
ample of  cosmic  consciousness.  Of  the  latter 
phase  or  expression  of  this  "new"  sense,  as  pres- 
ent-day writers  frequently  call  it,  Emerson  is 
the  most  perfect  example,  because  he  was  the 
most  balanced ;  the  most  literary,  in  the  strict  in- 
terpretation of  the  word. 

Balzac's  place  in  literature  is  due  far  more  to 
his  wonderful  spiritual  insight,  and  his  powerful 
imagination,  than  to  his  intellectuality,  or  to  lit- 
erary style.  But  that  he  was  an  almost  complete 
case  of  cosmic  consciousness  is  evident  in  all  he 
wrote  and  in  all  he  did.  His  life  was  absolutely 
consistent  with  the  cosmic  conscious  man,  living 
in  a  world  where  the  race  consciousness  has  not 
yet  risen  to  the  heights  of  the  spiritually  con- 
scious life. 

Bucke  comments  upon  his  decision  against  the 
state  of  matrimony,  because,  as  Balzac  himself 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness      245 

declared,  it  would  be  an  obstacle  to  the  perfecti- 
bility of  his  interior  senses,  and  to  his  flight 
through  the  spiritual  worlds,  and  says:  "When 
we  consider  the  antagonistic  attitude  of  so  many 
of  the  great  cases  toward  this  relation  (Gautama, 
Jesus,  Paul,  Whitman,  etc.),  there  seems  little 
doubt  that  anything  like  general  possession  of 
cosmic  consciousness  must  abolish  marriage  as 
we  know  it  today." 

Balzac  explains  this  seeming  aversion  to  the 
marriage  state  as  we  know  it  today,  in  his  two 
books,  written  during  his  early  thirties,  namely, 
Louis  Lambert  and  Seraphita.  "Louis  Lambert" 
is  regarded  as  in  the  nature  of  an  autobiography, 
since  Balzac,  like  his  mouthpiece,  Louis,  viewed 
everything  from  an  inner  sense — from  intuition, 
or  the  soul  faculties,  rather  than  from  the  stand- 
ard of  mere  intellectual  observation,  analysis  and 
synthesis.  This  inner  sense,  so  real  and  so  thor- 
oughly understandable  to  those  possessing  it,  is 
almost,  if  not  quite,  impossible  of  description  to 
the  complete  comprehension  of  those  who  have 
no  intimate  relationship  with  this  inner  vision. 
To  the  person  who  views  life  from  the  inner 
sense,  the  soul  sense  (which  is  the  approach  to, 
and  is  included  in,  cosmic  consciousness),  the  ex- 
ternal or  physical  life  is  like  a  mirror  reflecting, 
more  or  less  inaccurately,  the  reality — the  soul 
is  the  gazer,  and  the  visible  life  is  what  he  sees. 


240  Cosmic  Consciousness 

Balzac  expresses  this  view  in  all  he  says  and 
does.  "All  we  are  is  in  the  soul,"  he  says,  and 
the  perfection  or  the  imperfection  of  what  we 
externalize,  depends  upon  the  development  of  the 
soul. 

It  is  this  marvelously  developed  inner  vision 
that  makes  marriage,  on  the  sense-conscious 
plane,  which  is  the  plane  upon  which  we  know 
marriage  as  it  is  today,  objectionable  to  Balzac. 

His  spirit  had  already  united  with  its  spiritual 
counterpart,  and  his  soul  sought  the  embodiment 
of  that  union  in  the  flesh.  This  he  did  not  find 
in  the  perfection  and  completeness  which  from 
his  inner  view  he  knew  to  exist. 

Barriers  of  caste,  or  class;  of  time  and  space; 
of  age;  of  race  and  color;  of  condition;  may  in- 
tervene between  counterparts  on  the  physical 
plane;  nay,  one  may  be  manifesting  in  the  phys- 
ical body  and  the  other  have  abandoned  the  body, 
but  as  there  is  neither  time  nor  space  nor  condi- 
tion to  the  spirit,  this  union  may  have  been  sought 
and  found,  and  reflected  to  the  mortal  conscious- 
ness, in  which  case  marriage  with  anything  less 
than  the  one  true  counterpart  would  be  unsatis- 
factory, if  not  altogether  objectionable. 

With  this  view  in  mind,  Seraphita  becomes  as 
lucid  a  bit  of  reading  as  anything  to  be  found  in 
literature. 

Seraphita  is  the  perfected  being — the  god  into 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness      247 

which  man  is  developing,  or  more  properly  speak- 
ing, unfolding,  since  man  must  unfold  into  that 
from  which  he  started,  but  with  consciousness 
added. 

Everywhere,  in  ancient  and  modern  mysticism, 
we  find  the  assumption  that  God  is  dual — male 
and  female.  The  old  Hebrew  word  for  God  is 
plural — Elohim. 

Humankind  invariably  and  persistently,  even 
though  half -mockingly,  alludes  to  man  and  wife 
as  "one";  and  men  and  women  speak  of  each 
other,  when  married,  as  "my  other  half." 

That  which  persists  has  a  basis  in  fact,  and 
symbolizes  the  perfect  type.  What  we  know  of 
marriage  as  it  is  today,  proves  to  us  beyond  the 
shadow  of  a  doubt,  that  the  man-made  institution 
of  marriage  does  not  make  man  and  woman  one, 
nor  insure  that  two  halves  of  the  same  whole 
are  united.  The  highest  type  of  men  and 
women  today  are  at  best  but  half -gods,  but  these 
are  prophecies  of  the  future  race,  "the  man-god 
whom  we  await"  as  Emerson  puts  it.  But  that 
which  we  await  is  the  man-woman-god,  the  Per- 
fected Being,  of  whom  Balzac  writes  in  Sera- 
phita. 

It  has  been  said  that  Madame  Hanska,  whom 
the  author  finally  married  only  six  months  pre- 
vious to  his  death,  was  the  original  of  Seraphita, 
but  it  would  seem  that  this  great  affection,  tender 


248  Cosmic  Consciousness 

and  enduring  as  it  was,  partook  far  more  of  a 
beautiful  friendship  between  two  souls  who  knew 
and  understood  each  other's  needs,  than  it  did  of 
that  blissful  and  ecstatic  union  of  counterparts, 
which  everywhere  is  described  by  those  who  have 
experienced  it,  as  a  sensation  of  melting  or  merg- 
ing into  the  other's  being. 

Seraphita  is  the  embodiment,  in  human  form, 
of  the  idea  expressed  in  the  world-old  belief  in  a 
perfected  being;  whose  perfection  was  complete 
when  the  two  halves  of  the  one  should  have  found 
each  other. 

The  inference  is  very  generally  made  that 
Balzac  believed  in  and  sought  to  express  the  idea 
of  a  bi-sexual  individual — a  personality  who  is 
complete  in  himself  or  herself  as  a  person;  one 
in  which  the  intuitive,  feminine  principle  and 
the  reasoning,  masculine  principle  had  become 
perfectly  balanced — in  short,  an  androgynous 
human. 

This  idea  is  apparently  further  substantiated 
by  the  fact  that  Seraphita  was  loved  by  Minna,  a 
beautiful  young  girl  to  whom  Seraphita  was  al- 
ways Seraphitus,  an  ideal  lover;  and  by  Wilfrid, 
to  whom  Seraphita  represented  his  ideal  of  fem- 
inine loveliness,  both  in  mind  and  body;  a  young 
girl  possessing  marvelous,  almost  miraculous, 
wisdom,  but  yet  a  woman  with  human  passions 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness      249 

and  human  virtues — his  ideal  of  wifehood  and 
motherhood. 

But  whatever  the  idea  that  Balzac  intended  to 
convey,  whether,  as  is  generally  believed,  Sera- 
ph ita  was  an  androgynous  being,  or  whether  she 
symbolized  the  perfection  of  soul-union,  our  con- 
tention is  that  this  union  is  not  a  creation  of  the 
imagination,  but  the  accomplishment  of  the  plan 
of  creation — the  final  goal  of  earthly  pilgrimage ; 
the  raison  d'etre  of  love  itself. 

One  argument  against  the  idea  that  Seraphita 
was  intended  to  illustrate  an  androgynous  being, 
rather  than  a  perfected  human,  who  had  her  spir- 
itual mate,  is  found  in  the  words  in  which  she 
refused  to  marry  Wilfrid,  although  Balzac  makes 
it  plainly  evident  that  she  was  attracted  to  Wil- 
frid with  a  degree  of  sense-attraction,  due  to  the 
fact  that  she  was  still  living  within  the  environ- 
ment of  the  physical,  and  therefore  subject  to  the 
illusions  of  the  mortal,  even  while  her  spiritual 
consciousness  was  so  fully  developed  as  to  en- 
able her  to  perceive  and  realize  the  difference  be- 
tween an  attraction  that  was  based  largely  upon 
sense,  and  that  which  was  of  the  soul. 

Wilfrid  says  to  her: 

"Have  you  no  soul  that  you  are  not  seduced 
by  the  prospect  of  consoling  a  great  man,  who 
will  sacrifice  all  to  live  with  you  in  a  little  house 
by  the  border  of  a  lake?" 


250  Cosmic  Consciousness 

"But,"  answers  Seraphita,  "I  am  loved  with 
a  love  without  bounds." 

And  when  Wilfrid  with  insane  anger  and 
jealousy  asked  who  it  was  whom  Seraphita  loved 
and  who  loved  her,  she  answered  "God." 

At  another  time,  when  Minna,  to  whom  she 
had  often  spoken  in  veiled  terms  of  a  mysterious 
being  who  loved  her  and  whom  she  loved,  asked 
her  who  this  person  was,  she  answered: 

"I  can  love  nothing  here  on  earth." 

"What  dost  thou  love  then?"  asked  Minna, 

"Heaven"  was  the  reply. 

This  obscurity  and  uncertainty  as  to  what 
manner  of  love  it  was  that  absorbed  Seraphita, 
and  who  was  the  object  of  it,  could  not  have 
been  possible  had  it  been  the  usual  devotion  of 
the  religcuse. 

Seraphita,  whose  consciousness  extended  far 
beyond  that  of  the  people  about  her,  could  not 
have  explained  to  her  friends  that  the  invisible 
realms  were  as  real  to  her  as  the  visible  universe 
was  to  those  with  only  sense-consciousness.  It 
was  impossible  to  explain  to  them  that  she  had 
found  and  knew  her  mate,  even  though  she  had 
not  met  him  in  the  physical  body. 

To  Wilfrid  she  said  she  loved  "God."  To 
Minna  she  used  the  term  "Heaven,"  and  when 
Minna  questioned:  "But  art  thou  worthy  of 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness      251 

heaven  \vhen  thou  despisest  the  creatures  of 
God  ?"  Seraphita  answered : 

"Couldst  thou  love  two  beings  at  once  ?  Would 
a  lover  be  a  lover  if  he  did  not  fill  the  heart? 
Should  he  not  be  the  first,  the  last,  the  only  one  ? 
She  who  loves  will  she  not  quit  the  world  for  her 
lover?  Her  entire  family  becomes  a  memory; 
she  has  no  longer  a  relative.  The  lover !  she  has 
given  him  her  whole  soul.  If  she  has  kept  a  frac- 
tion of  it,  she  does  not  love.  To  love  feebly,  is 
that  to  love?  The  word  of  the  lover  makes  all 
her  joy,  and  quivers  in  her  veins  like  a  purple 
deeper  than  blood;  his  glance  is  a  light  which 
penetrates  her ;  she  dissolves  in  him ;  there,  where 
he  is,  all  is  beautiful;  he  is  warmth  to  the  soul; 
he  irradiates  everything;  near  him  could  one 
know  cold  or  night?  He  is  never  absent;  he  is 
ever  within  us ;  we  think  in  him,  to  him,  for  him. 
Minna,  that  is  the  way  I  love." 

And  when  Minna,  like  Wilfrid,  "seized  by  a 
devouring  jealousy,"  demanded  to  know 
"whom?"  Seraphita  answered,  "God."  This  she 
did  because  the  one  whom  she  loved  became  her 
God.  We  are  told  that  "love  makes  gods  of 
men."  Perfect  love,  the  love  of  those  who  are 
spiritual-mates — soul-mates — the  "man-woman- 
god  whom  we  await,"  becomes  an  immortal; 
and  immortals  are  gods. 

Moreover,  if  Seraphita  had  intended 


252  Cosmic  Consciousness 

the  love  of  the  religious  devotee  to  The  Absolute, 
instead  of  a  perfected  sex-love,  she  would  not 
have  pointed  out  to  both  Wilfrid  and  Minna  that 
which  she,  in  her  superior  vision,  her  supra-con- 
sciousness,  perceived,  namely,  that  Wilfrid  and 
Minna  were  really  intended  for  spiritual  mates, 
and  that  what  they  each  saw  in  her  was  really  a 
prophecy  of  their  own  perfected  and  spiritualized 
love. 

The  subject  is  one  that  is  positively  incompre- 
hensible and  unexplainable  to  the  average  mind. 
All  mystic  literature,  when  read  with  the  eyes 
of  understanding,  exalts  and  spiritualizes  sex. 
The  latter  day  degeneration  of  sex  is  the  "trail 
of  the  serpent,"  which  Woman  is  to  crush  with 
her  heel.  And  Woman  is  crushing  it  today,  al- 
though to  the  superficial  observer,  who  sees  only 
surface  conditions,  it  would  appear  as  though 
Woman  had  fallen  from  her  high  estate,  to  take 
her  place  on  a  footing  with  man.  This  view  is 
the  exoteric,  and  not  the  esoteric,  one. 

They  who  have  ears  hear  the  inner  voice,  and 
they  who  have  eyes  see  with  the  inner  sight.  The 
mystery  of  sex  is  the  eternal  mystery  which  each 
must  solve  for  himself  before  he  can  comprehend 
it,  and  when  solved  eliminates  all  sense  of  sin 
and  shame;  brings  Illumination  in  which  every- 
thing is  made  clear  and  makes  man-woman  im- 
mortal— a  god. 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness      253 

Swedenborg's  theory  of  Heaven  as  a  never- 
ending  honeymoon  in  which  spiritually-mated 
humans  dwell,  has  been  denounced  by  many  as 
"shocking"  to  a  refined  and  sensitive  mind.  But 
this  idea  is  shocking  only  because  even  the  most 
advanced  minds  are  seldom  Illumined,  their  ad- 
vancement being  along  the  lines  of  intellectual 
research  and  acquired  knowledge,  which,  as  we 
have  previously  explained,  is  not  synonymous 
with  interior  wisdom. 

The  illumined  mind  is  bound  to  find  in  the 
eternal  and  ever-present  fact  of  sex,  the  key  to 
the  mysteries — the  password  to  immortal  god- 
hood. 

The  subject  is  one  that  cannot  be  set  forth  in 
printed  words ;  this  fact  is,  indeed,  the  very  Plan 
of  Illumination.  It  cannot  be  taught.  It  must 
be  found.  Only  those  who  have  glimpsed  its 
truth  can  even  imperfectly  point  the  way  in  which 
it  may  be  discovered.  No  teacher  can  guarantee 
it.  It  is  the  most  evanescent,  the  most  delicate, 
the  most  indescribable  thing  in  the  Cosmos.  It  is 
therefore  the  most  readily  misinterpreted  and 
misunderstood. 

Balzac  doubtless  understood,  not  as  a  matter 
of  perception  of  a  truth  but  as  an  experience,  and 
this  fact,  if  no  other,  marks  him  as  one  having 
a  very  high  degree  of  cosmic  consciousness. 

Seraphita  called  herself  a  "Specialist."    When 


254  Cosmic  Consciousness 

Minna  inquired  how  it  was  that  Seraphitus  could 
read  the  souls  of  men,  the  answer  was: 

"I  have  the  gift  of  Specialism.  Specialism  is 
an  inward  sight  that  can  penetrate  all  things; 
you  will  understand  its  full  meaning  only  through 
comparison.  In  the  great  cities  of  Europe  works 
are  produced  by  which  the  human  hand  seeks  to 
represent  the  effects  of  the  moral  nature  as  well 
as  those  of  the  physical  nature,  as  well  as  those 
of  the  ideas  in  marble.  The  sculptor  acts  on  the 
stone;  he  fashions  it;  he  puts  a  realm  of  ideas 
into  it.  There  are  statues  which  the  hand  of  man 
has  endowed  with  the  faculty  of  representing  the 
whole  noble  side  of  humanity,  or  the  evil  side  of 
it;  most  men  see  in  such  marbles  a  human  figure 
and  nothing  more ;  a  few  older  men,  a  little  higher 
in  the  scale  of  being,  perceive  a  fraction  of  the 
thoughts  expressed  in  the  statue ;  but  the  Initiates 
in  the  secrets  of  art  are  of  the  same  intellect  as 
the  sculptor ;  they  see  in  his  work  the  whole  uni- 
verse of  thought.  Such  persons  are  in  them- 
selves the  principles  of  art ;  they  bear  within  them 
a  mirror  which  reflects  nature  in  her  slightest 
manifestations.  Well,  so  it  is  with  me;  I  have 
within  me  a  mirror  before  which  the  moral  na- 
ture, with  its  causes  and  its  effects,  appears  and 
is  reflected.  Entering  thus  into  the  consciousness 
of  others  I  am  able  to  divine  both  the  future  and 
the  past  *  *  *  though  what  I  have  said  does 


Intellectual  Cosmic  Consciousness       255 

not  define  the  gift  of  Specialism,  for  to  conceive 
the  nature  of  that  gift  we  must  possess  it." 

This  describes  in  terms  similar  to  those  em- 
ployed by  others  who  possess  cosmic  conscious- 
ness, the  results  of  this  inner  light,  which  Sera- 
phita  calls  a  "mirror." 

And  yet,  with  this  seemingly  exhaustive  and 
lucid  exposition  of  the  effects  of  Illumination, 
Seraphita  declares  that  "to  conceive  the  nature  of 
this  gift  we  must  possess  it." 

Balzac  further  comments  upon  what  he  terms 
this  gift  of  Specialism,  which  is  cosmic  conscious- 
ness or  illumination,  thus: 

"The  specialist  is  necessarily  the  loftiest  ex- 
pression of  man — the  link  which  connects  the  vis- 
ible to  the  superior  worlds.  He  acts,  he  sees,  he 
feels  through  his  inner  being.  The  abstractive 
thinks.  The  instinctive  simply  acts.  Hence  three 
degrees  for  man.  As  an  instinctive  he  is  below 
the  level ;  as  an  abstractive  he  attains  it ;  as  a  spe- 
cialist he  rises  above  it.  Specialism  opens  to  man 
his  true  career ;  the  Infinite  dawns  upon  him — he 
catches  a  glimpse  of  his  destiny." 

The  merely  sense-conscious  man  is  the  man- 
animal;  the  abstractive  man  is  the  average  man 
and  woman  in  the  world  today — the  human  who 
is  evolving  out  of  the  mental  into  the  spiritual 
consciousness.  The  specialist  is  the  cosmic  con- 


256  Cosmic  Consciousness 

scions  one,  the  one  who  "catches  a  glimpse  of  his 
destiny." 

Balzac,  in  company  with  all  who  attain  cosmic 
consciousness,  had  a  great  capacity  for  suffering; 
and  this  soul-loneliness  became  crystalized  into 
spiritual  wisdom,  which  he  expressed  in  the  words 
and  in  the  manner  most  likely  to  be  accepted  by 
the  world. 

How  else  can  that  divine  union  to  which  we 
are  heirs  and  for  which  we  are  either  blindly, 
consciously,  or  supra-consciously,  striving,  be  de- 
scribed and  exploited  without  danger  of  defile- 
ment and  degeneracy,  save  and  except  by  the 
phrase  "unity  with  God"? 

All  mystics  have  found  it  necessary  to  veil 
the  "secret  of  secrets,"  lest  the  unworthy  (because 
unready)  defile  it  with  his  gaze,  even  as  the  sin- 
ful devotee  prostrates  himself  hiding  his  face, 
while  the  priest  raises  the  chalice  containing  the 
holy  eucharist  in  the  ceremony  of  the  mass. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

ILLUMINATION  AS  EXPRESSED  IN  THE 
POETICAL  TEMPERAMENT 

Poetry  is  the  natural  language  of  cosmic  con- 
sciousness. "The  music  of  the  spheres"  is  a  lit- 
eral expression,  as  all  who  have  ever  glimpsed 
the  beauties  of  the  spiritual  realms  will  testify. 

"Poets  are  the  trumpets  which  sing  to  battle. 
Poets  are  the  unacknowledged  legislators  of  the 
world,"  said  Shelley. 

Not  that  all  poets  are  aware,  in  their  mortal 
consciousness,  of  their  divine  mission,  or  of  their 
spiritual  glimpses. 

The  outer  mind,  the  mortal  or  carnal  mind — 
that  part  of  our  organism  whose  office  it  is  to 
take  care  of  the  physical  body,  for  its  preser- 
vation and  its  well-being,  may  be  so  dominant  as 
to  hold  in  bondage  the  atman,  but  it  can  not  ut- 
terly silence  its  voice. 

Thus  the  true  poet  is  also  a  seer;  a  prophet; 
a  spiritually-conscious  being,  for  such  time,  or 
during  such  phases  of  inspiration,  as  he  becomes 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  poetry. 

A  person  who  writes  rhymes  is  not  necessarily 
a  poet.  So,  too,  there  are  poets  who  do  not  ex- 
257 


258  Cosmic  Consciousness 

press  their  inspirations  according  to  the  rules  of 
metre  and  syntax. 

Between  that  which  Balzac  tabulated  as  the 
"abstractive"  type  of  human  evolvement  and  that 
which  is  fully  cosmic  in  consciousness,  there  are 
many  and  diverse  degrees  of  the  higher  facul- 
ties; but  the  poet  always  expresses  some  one  of 
these  degrees  of  the  higher  consciousness;  in- 
deed some  poets  are  of  that  versatile  nature  that 
they  run  the  entire  gamut  of  the  emotional  nature, 
now  descending  to  the  ordinary  normal  conscious- 
ness which  takes  account  only  of  the  personal 
self ;  again  ascending  to  the  heights  of  the  imper- 
sonal fearlessness  and  unassailable  confidence  that 
is  the  heritage  of  those  who  have  reached  the  full 
stature  of  the  "man-god  whom  we  await" — the 
cosmic  conscious  race  that  is  to  be. 

All  commentators  upon  modern  instances  of  Il- 
lumination unite  in  regarding  Walt  Whitman  as 
one  of  the  most,  if  not  the  most,  perfect  example 
of  whom  we  have  any  record  of  cosmic  conscious- 
ness and  its  sublime  effects  upon  the  character  and 
personality  of  the  illumined  one. 

Whitman  is  a  sublime  type  for  reasons  which 
are  of  first  importance  in  their  relation  to  char- 
acter as  viewed  from  the  ideals  of  the  cosmic 
conscious  race-to-be. 

Moralists  have  criticized  Whitman  as  immoral ; 
religionists  have  deplored  his  lack  of  a  religious 


Illumination  in  Poetical  Temperament  259 

creed;  literary  critics  have  denied  his  claim  to 
high  rank  in  the  world  of  literature;  but  Walt 
Whitman  is  unquestionably  without  a  peer  in  the 
roundness  of  his  genius;  in  the  simplicity  of  his 
soul;  in  the  catholicity  of  his  sympathy;  in  the 
perfect  poise  and  self-control  and  imperturbability 
of  his  kindness.  His  biographers  agree  as  to  his 
never-failing  good  nature.  He  was  without  any 
of  those  fits  of  unrest  and  temperamental  eccen- 
tricities which  are  supposed  to  be  the  "sign  man- 
ual" of  the  child  of  the  poetic  muse. 

In  Whitman  it  would  seem  that  all  those  petty 
prejudices  against  any  nationality  or  class  of 
men,  were  entirely  absent.  He  exalted  the  com- 
monplace, not  as  a  pose,  nor  because  he  had  given 
himself  to  that  task,  but  because  to  him  there  was 
no  commonplace.  In  the  cosmic  perception  of  the 
universe,  everything  is  exalted  to  the  plane  of  fit- 
ness. As  to  the  pure  all  things  are  pure,  so  to  the 
one  who  is  steeped  in  the  sublimity  of  Divine  Il- 
lumination, there  is  no  high  or  low,  no  good  or 
bad,  no  white  or  black,  or  rich  or  poor;  all — all 
is  a  part  of  the  plan,  and,  in  its  place  in  cosmic 
evolution,  it  fits. 

Whitman  cries: 

"All !  all !  Let  others  ignore  what  they  may,  I 
make  the  poem  of  evil  also,  I  commemorate  that 
part  also;  I  am  myself  just  as  much  evil  as  good, 


2<3o  Cosmic  Consciousness 

and  my  nation  is,  and  I  say  there  is  in  fact  no 
evil." 

Compared  to  the  religious  aspect  of  cosmic  con- 
sciousness in  which,  previous  to  the  time  of  Il- 
lumination, the  devotee  had  striven  to  rise  to  spir- 
itual heights  through  disdaining  the  flesh,  this  note 
of  Whitman's  is  a  new  note — the  nothingness  of 
evil  as  such ;  the  righteousness  of  the  flesh  and  the 
holiness  of  earthly,  or  human,  love,  bespeaks  the 
prophet  of  the  New  Dispensation ;  the  time  hinted 
of  by  Jesus,  the  Master,  when  he  said,  "when  the 
twain  shall  be  one  and  the  outside  as  the  inside," 
as  a  sign  and  symbol  of  the  blessed  time  to  come 
when  the  kingdom  he  spoke  of  (not  his  personal 
kingdom,  but  the  kingdom  which  he  represented, 
the  kingdom  of  Love),  should  come  upon  earth. 

Whitman's  illumination  is  essentially  poetic; 
not  that  it  is  not  also  intellectual  and  moral;  but 
after  his  experience — at  least  an  experience  more 
notable  than  any  hitherto  recorded  by  him,  in  or 
about  his  thirty-fifth  year — we  find  his  conversa- 
tion invariably  reflecting  the  beauty  and  poetical 
imagery  of  his  mind.  He  may  be  said  to  have 
lived  and  moved  and  had  his  being  in  a  state  of 
blissful  unconsciousness  of  anything  unclean  or 
impure  or  unnatural. 

This  absence  of  consciousness  of  evil  is  in  no 
wise  synonymous  with  a  type  of  person  who  ex- 
alts his  undeveloped  animal  tendencies  under  the 


Illumination  in  Poetical  Temperament  261 

guise  of  liberation  from  a  sense  of  sin.  Neither 
is  this  discrimination  easy  of  attainment  to  any 
but  those  who  realise  in  their  own  hearts  the  very 
distinct  difference  between  the  nothingness  of  sin 
and  the  pretended  acceptance  of  perversions  as 
purity. 

While  we  are  on  this  point  we  must  again  em- 
phasize the  truth  that  cosmic  consciousness  cannot 
be  gained  by  prescription;  there  is  no  royal  road 
to  mukti.  Liberation  from  the  lower  manas  can 
not  be  bought  or  sold,  it  can  not  be  explained  or 
comprehended,  save  by  those  to  whom  the  attain- 
ment of  such  a  state  is  at  least  possible  if  not 
probable. 

Illustrative  of  his  sense,  of  unity  with  all  life 
(one  of  the  most  salient  characteristics  of  the 
fully  cosmic  conscious  man),  are  these  lines  of 
Whitman's : 

"Voyaging  to  every  port,  to  dicker  and  adventure ; 
Hurrying  with  the  modern  crowd,  as  eager  and 

fickle  as  any; 
Hot  toward  one  I  hate,  ready  in  my  madness  to 

knife  him; 
Solitary   at   midnight    in   my   back   yard,    my 

thoughts  gone  from  me  a  long  while ; 
Walking  the  hills  of  Judea,  with  the  beautiful 
•    gentle  God  by  my  side ; 


262  Cosmic  Consciousness 

Speeding     through     space — speeding     through 
Heaven  and  the  stars." 

Oriental  mysticism  tells  us  that  one  of  the  at- 
tributes of  the  liberated  one  is  the  power  to  read 
the  hearts  and  souls  of  all  men;  to  feel  what  they 
feel;  and  to  so  unite  with  them  in  consciousness 
that  we  are  for  the  time  being  the  very  person  or 
thing  we  contemplate.  If  this  be  indeed  the  test 
of  godhood,  Whitman  expresses  it  in  every  line: 

"The  disdain  and  calmness  of  olden  martyrs; 
The  mother  condemned  for  a  witch,  burnt  with 

dry  wood,  her  children  gazing  on ; 
The  hounded  slave  that  flags  in  the  race,  leans  by 

the  fence,  blowing,  covered  with  sweat; 
The  twinges  that  sting  like  needles  his  legs  and 

neck — the  murderous  buckshot  and  the  bullets ; 
All  these  I  feel,  or  am." 

Seeking  to  express  the  sense  of  knowing  and 
especially  of  feeling,  and  the  bigness  and  broad- 
ness of  life,  the  scorn  of  petty  aims  and  strife; 
in  short,  that  interior  perception  which  Illumina- 
tion brings,  he  says: 

"Have  you  reckoned  a  thousand  acres  much  ?  have 

you  reckoned  the  earth  much? 
Have  you  practised  so  long  to  learn  to  read  ? 
Have  you  felt  so  proud  to  get  at  the  meaning  of 

poems? 


Illumination  in  Poetical    Temperament  263 

Stop  this  day  and  night  with  me  and  you  shall 

possess  the  origin  of  all  poems ; 
You  shall  possess  the  good  of  the  earth  and  sun — 

there  are  millions  of  suns  left; 
You  shall  no  longer  take  things  at  second  or 

third  hand,  nor  look  through  the  eyes  of  the 

dead,  nor  feed  on  the  spectres  in  books ; 
You  shall  not  look  through  my  eyes  either,  nor 

take  things  from  me ; 
You  shall  listen  to  all  sides,  and  filter  them  from 

yourself. 
I  have  heard  what  the  talkers  were  talking,  the 

talk  of  the  beginning  and  the  end; 

But  I  do  not  talk  of  the  beginning  nor  the  end. 
******* 

There  was  never  any  more  inception  than  there 

is  now ; 

Nor  any  more  youth  or  age  than  there  is  now ; 
And  will  never  be  any  more  perfection  than  there 

is  now, 
Nor  any  more  heaven  or  hell  than  there  is  now." 

A  perception  of  eternity  as  an  ever-present  re- 
ality is  one  of  the  characteristic  signs  of  the  in- 
ception of  the  new  birth. 

Birth  and  death  become  nothing  more  nor  yet 
less,  than  events  in  the  procedure  of  eternal  life; 
age  becomes  merely  a  graduation  garment;  God 


264  Cosmic  Consciousness 

and  heaven  are  not  separated  from  us  by  any 
reality;  they  become  every-day  facts. 

Whitman  tells  of  the  annihilation  of  any  sense 
of  separateness  from  his  soul  side,  in  the  fol- 
lowing words : 

"Clear  and  sweet  is  my  soul,  and  clear  and 
sweet  is  all  that  is  not  my  soul." 

He  did  not  confound  his  mortal  consciousness, 
the  lower  manas,  \vith  the  higher — the  soul ;  nei- 
ther did  he  recognize  an  impassable  gulf  between 
them. 

While  admittedly  ascending  to  the  higher  con- 
sciousness from  the  lower,  Whitman  refused  to 
follow  the  example  of  the  saints  and  sages  of  old, 
and  mortify  or  despise  the  lower  self — the  man- 
ifestation. He  had  indeed  struck  the  balance;  he 
recognized  his  dual  nature,  each  in  its  rightful 
place  and  with  its  rightful  possessions,  and  re- 
fused to  abase  either  "I  am"  to  the  other.  He  lit- 
erally "rendered  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are 
Caesar's,"  by  claiming  for  the  flesh  the  purity  and 
the  cleanliness  of  God's  handiwork. 

In  WTiitman,  too,  we  find  an  almost  perfect  re- 
alization of  immortality  and  of  blissfulness  of 
life  and  the  complete  harmony  and  unity  of  his 
soul  with  all  there  is.  Following  closely  upon  the 
experience  that  seems  to  have  been  the  most  vivid 
of  the  many  instances  of  illumination  which  he 
enjoyed  throughout  a  long  life,  he  wrote  the  fol- 


Illumination  in  Poetical  Temperament  265 

lowing  lines,  indicative  of  the  emotions  imme- 
diately associated  with  the  influx  of  illumina- 
tion: 

"Swiftly  arose  and  spread  around  me,  the  peace 
and  joy  and  knowledge  that  pass  all  the  art 
and  argument  of  earth ; 

And  I  know  that  the  hand  of  God  is  the  elder 
hand  of  my  own, 

And  I  know  that  the  spirit  of  God  is  the  eldest 
brother  of  my  own, 

And  that  all  the  men  ever  born  are  also  my  broth- 
ers, and  the  women  my  sisters  and  lovers, 

And  that  a  kelson  of  creation  is  love." 

In  lines  written  in  1860,  about  seven  years 
after  the  first  vivid  instance  of  the  experience  of 
illumination  which  afterward  became  oft-recur- 
rent, Whitman  speaks  of  what  he  calls  "Perfec- 
tions," and  from  what  he  writes  we  may  assume 
that  he  referred  to  those  possessing  cosmic  con- 
sciousness, and  the  practical  impossibility  of  de- 
scribing this  peculiarity  and  accounting  for  the 
alteration  it  makes  in  character  and  outlook. 

Says  Whitman: 

"Only  themselves  understand  themselves,  and  the 

like  of  themselves, 
As  souls  only  understand  souls." 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  Whitman  more 


266  Cosmic  Consciousness 

perfectly  illustrates  the  type  of  the  coming  man — 
the  cosmic  conscious  race,  because  Whitman's  il- 
lumination seems  to  have  come  without  the  ter- 
rible agonies  of  doubt  and  prayer  and  mortifica- 
tion of  the  flesh,  which  characterize  so  many  of 
those  saints  and  sages  of  whom  we  read  in  sacred 
literature.  But  it  must  not  be  inferred  from  this 
that  Whitman's  life  was  devoid  of  suffering. 

A  biographer  says  of  him : 

"He  has  loved  the  earth,  sun,  animals ;  despised 
riches,  given  alms  to  every  one  that  asked ;  stood 
up  for  the  stupid  and  crazy;  devoted  his  income 
and  labor  to  others;  according  to  the  command  of 
the  divine  voice;  and  was  impelled  by  the  divine 
impulse ;  and  now  for  reward  he  is  poor,  despised, 
sick,  paralyzed,  neglected,  dying.  His  message 
to  men,  to  the  delivery  of  which  he  devoted  his 
life,  which  has  been  dearer  in  his  eyes  (for  man's 
sake)  than  wife,  children,  life  itself,  is  unread, 
or  scoffed  and  jeered  at.  What  shall  he  say  to 
God  ?  He  says  that  God  knows  him  through  and 
through,  and  that  he  is  willing  to  leave  himself 
in  God's  hands." 

But  above  and  beyond  all  this,  is  the  sense  of 
oneness  with  all  who  suffer  which  is  ever  a  herit- 
age of  the  cosmic  conscious  one,  even  while  he  is, 
at  the  same  time,  the  recipient  of  states  of  bliss 
and  certainty  of  immortality,  and  melting  soul- 
love,  incomprehensible  and  indescribable  to  the 


Illumination  in  Poetical  Temperament  267 

non-initiate.  Whitman's  calm  and  poise  was  not 
that  of  the  ice-encrusted  egotist.  It  is  the  poise 
of  the  perfectly  balanced  man-god  equally  aware 
of  his  human  and  his  divine  attributes ;  and  justly 
estimating  both;  nor  drawing  too  fine  a  line  be- 
tween. 

"I  embody  all  presence  outlawed  or  suffering; 
See  myself  in  prison,  shaped  like  another  man, 

And  feel  the  dull  unintermitted  pain. 
******* 

"For  me  the  keepers  of  convicts  shoulder  their 

carbines  and  keep  watch; 

It  is  I  left  out  in  the  morning,  and  barr'd  at  night. 
Not  a  mutineer  walks  handcuffed  to  jail,  but  I  am 

handcuffed  and  walk  by  his  side; 
******* 

"Not  a  youngster  is  taken  for  larceny,  but  I  go  up 

too,  and  am  tried  and  sentenced. 
Not  a  cholera  patient  lies  at  the  last  gasp  but  I 

also  lie  at  the  last  gasp ; 
My  face  is  ash-colored — my  sinews  gnarl — away 

from  me  people  retreat. 

******* 

"Askers  embody  themselves  in  me,  and  I  am  em- 
bodied in  them; 
I  project  my  hat,  sit  shame- faced  and  beg." 

If  any  one  imagines  that  Whitman  was  not  a 
religious  man,  let  him  read  the  following: 


268  Cosmic  Consciousness 

"I  say  that  no  man  has  ever  yet  been  half  devout 

enough ; 
None  has  ever  yet  adored  or  worshipped  half 

enough ; 
None  has  begun  to  think  how  divine  he  himself 

is,  and  how  certain  the  future  is." 

There  is  a  sublime  confidence  and  worship  in 
these  words  which  belittles  the  churchman's  hope 
and  prayer  that  God  may  be  good  to  him  and  bless 
him  with  a  future  life.  Whitman's  philosophy, 
less  specific  as  to  method,  is  assuredly  more  cer- 
tain, more  faithful  in  effect.  Whitman  had  the 
experience  of  being  immersed  in  a  sea  of  light 
and  love,  so  frequently  a  phenomenon  of  Illumi- 
nation; he  retained  throughout  all  his  life  a  com- 
plete and  perfect  assurance  of  immortality. 

His  sense  of  union  with  and  relationship  to  all 
living  things  was  as  much  a  part  of  him  as  the 
color  of  his  eyes  and  hair;  he  did  not  have  to 
remind  himself  of  it,  as  a  religious  duty. 

He  experienced  a  keen  joy  in  nature  and  in 
the  innocent,  childlike  pleasures  of  everyday 
things,  and  at  the  same  time  possessed  a  splendid 
intellect. 

All  consciousness  of  sin  or  evil  had  been  erased 
from  his  mind  and  actually  had  no  place  in  his 
life. 


Illumination  in  Poetical  Temperament  269 

ALFRED,  LORD  TENNYSON 

In  the  case  of  Lord  Tennyson,  we  have  a  defi- 
nite recognition  of  two  distinct  states  of  con- 
sciousness, finally  culminating  in  a  clear  experi- 
ence of  cosmic  consciousness;  this  experience  was 
so  positive  as  to  leave  no  doubt  or  indecision  in 
his  mind  regarding  the  reality  of  the  spiritual, 
and  the  illusory  character  of  the  external  life. 

In  truth  Tennyson  had  so  fixed  his  conscious- 
ness in  the  spiritual  rather  than  in  the  external, 
that  he  looked  out  from  that  inner  self,  as  through 
the  windows  of  a  house;  he  was  prepared,  as 
he  said,  to  believe  that  his  body  was  but  an  imagi- 
nary symbol  of  himself,  but  nothing  and  no  one 
could  persuade  him  that  the  real  Tennyson,  the 
/  am  consciousness  of  being  which  was  he,  was 
other  than  spiritual,  eternal,  undying. 

Like  so  many  others,  notably  Whitman,  who 
have  realized  a  more  or  less  full  degree  of  cosmic 
consciousness,  Tennyson  was  deeply  and  rever- 
ently religious,  although  not  partisanly  connected 
with  church  work.  Tennyson's  early  boyhood 
was  marked  by  experiences  which  usually  befall 
persons  of  the  psychic  temperament.  As  he  him- 
self described  these  states  of  consciousness,  they 
were  moments  in  which  the  ego  transcended  the 
limits  of  self  consciousness  and  entered  the  limit- 
less realm  of  spirit. 


270  Cosmic  Consciousness 

They  do  not  tabulate  with  the  ordinary  trance 
condition  of  the  spiritualistic  medium,  who  sub- 
jects his  own  self  consciousness  to  a  "control," 
although  Tennyson  always  believed  that  the  best 
of  his  writings  were  inspired  by,  and  written 
under  "the  direct  influence  of  higher  intelli- 
gences, of  whose  presence  he  was  distinctly  con- 
scious. He  felt  them  near  him  and  his  mind  was 
impressed  by  their  ideas." 

The  point  which  we  emphasize  is  that  these 
peculiar  states  of  consciousness  are  not  synony- 
mous with  the  western  idea  of  trance  as  seen  in 
mediumship,  although  Tennyson  uses  the  term 
"trance"  in  describing  them. 

He  says: 

"A  kind  of  walking  trance  I  have  frequently 
had,  quite  up  from  boyhood,  when  I  have  been 
all  alone.  This  has  often  come  upon  me  through 
repeating  my  own  name  to  myself  silently  until 
all  at  once,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  intensity  of 
the  consciousness  of  individuality,  the  individu- 
ality itself  seemed  to  dissolve  and  fade  into 
boundless  being." 

It  is  a  fact  that  children  of  a  peculiarly  sensi- 
tive or  psychic  temperament  seem  to  have  strange 
ideas  regarding  the  name  by  which  they  are  called, 
and  not  infrequently  become  confused  and  filled 
with  an  inexplicable  wonderment  at  the  sound 


Illumination  in  Poetical  Temperament  271 

of  their  own  name.     This  phenomenon  is  much 
less  rare  than  is  generally  known. 

In  Tennyson's  "Ancient  Sage"  this  experience 
of  entering  into  cosmic  consciousness  is  thus 
described : 

"More  than  once  when  I 

Sat  all  alone,  revolving  in  myself, 

The  word  that  is  the  symbol  of  myself, 

The  mortal  limit  of  the  Self  was  loosed, 

And  passed  into  the  nameless,  as  a  cloud 

Melts  into  heaven.    I  touched  my  limbs ;  the  limbs 

Were  strange,  not  mine;  and  yet  no  shade  of 

doubt, 

But  utter  clearness,  and  thro'  loss  of  self 
The  gain  of  such  large  life  as  matched  with  ours 
Were  sun  to  spark — unshadowable  in  words. 
Themselves  but  shadows  of  a  shadow- world." 

Tennyson's  illumination  is  certain,  clearly  de- 
fined, distinct  and  characteristic,  although  his 
poems  are  much  less  cosmic  than  those  of  Whit- 
man and  of  many  others.  There  is,  however, 
in  the  above,  all  that  is  descriptive  of  that  state 
of  consciousness  which  accompanies  liberation 
from  the  illusion — the  enchantment  of  the  merely 
mortal  existence. 

Words  are,  as  Tennyson  fitly  says,  but  "shad- 
ows of  a  shadow-world" ;  how  then  may  we  hope 


272  Cosmic  Consciousness 

to  define  in  terms  comprehensible  to  sense-con- 
sciousness only,  emotions  and  experiences  which 
involve  loss  of  self,  and  at  the  same  time  gain 
of  the  Self? 

Tennyson's  frequent  excursions  into  the  realm 
of  spiritual  consciousness  while  still  a  child, 
bears  out  our  contention  that  many  children  not 
infrequently  have  this  experience,  and  either 
through  reserve  or  from  lack  of  ability  to  ex- 
plain it,  keep  the  matter  to  themselves;  gener- 
ally losing  or  "outgrowing"  the  tendency  as  they 
enter  the  activities  of  school  life,  and  the  mortal 
mind  becomes  dominant  in  them.  This  is  espe- 
cially true  of  the  rising  generation,  and  we  per- 
sonally know  several  clearly  defined  instances 
which  have  been  reported  to  us,  during  conver- 
sations upon  the  theme  of  cosmic  consciousness. 

YONE  NOGUCHI 

Any  one  who  has  ever  had  the  good  fortune 
to  read  a  little  book  of  verse  entitled  "From  the 
Eastern  Seas,"  by  Yone  Noguchi,  a  young  Jap- 
anese, will  at  once  pronounce  them  a  beautiful 
and  perhaps  perfect  example  of  verse  that  may 
be  correctly  labeled  "cosmic." 

Noguchi  was  under  nineteen  years  of  age  when 
he  penned  these  verses,  but  they  are  thoughts 
and  expressions  possible  only  to  one  who  lives 
the  greater  part  of  his  life  within  the  illumina- 


Illumination  in  Poetical  Temperament  273 

tion  of  the  cosmic  sense.  They  are  so  delicate 
as  to  have  little,  if  any,  of  the  mortal  in  them. 

It  is  also  significant  that  Noguchi  in  these  later 
years  (he  is  now  only  a  little  past  thirty),  does 
not  reproduce  this  cosmic  atmosphere  in  his  writ- 
ings to  such  an  extent,  due  no  doubt  to  the  fact 
that  his  daily  occupation  (that  of  Professor  of 
Languages  in  the  Imperial  College  of  Tokio), 
compels  his  outer  attention,  excluding  the  fullness 
of  the  inner  vision. 

The  following  lines  are  perfect  as  an  exposi- 
tion of  spiritual  consciousness  in  which  the  lesser 
self  has  become  submerged: 

"Underneath  the  shade  of  the  trees,  myself 
passed  into  somewhere  as  a  cloud. 

I  see  my  soul  floating  upon  the  face  of  the  deep, 
nay  the  faceless  face  of  the  deepless  deep — 

Ah,  the  seas  of  loneliness. 

The  silence-waving  waters,  ever  shoreless,  bot- 
tomless, colorless,  have  no  shadow  of  my 
passing  soul. 

I,  without  wisdom,  without  foolishness,  without 
goodness,  without  badness — am  like  God,  a 
negative  god  at  least." 

The  almost  perpetual  state  of  spiritual  con- 
sciousness in  which  the  young  poet  lived  at  this 
time  is  apparent  in  the  following  lines : 


274  Cosmic  Consciousness 

"When  I  am  lost  in  the  deep  body  of  the  mist 

on  a  hill, 

The  universe  seems  built  with  me  as  its  pillar. 
Am  I  the  god  upon  the  face  of  the  deep,  nay — 
The  deepless  deepness  in  the  beginning?" 

And  the  following,  possible  of  comprehension 
only  to  one  who  has  glimpsed  the  eternal  verity 
of  man's  spiritual  reality,  and  the  shadow-like 
quality  of  the  external;  could  have  been  written 
only  by  one  freed  from  the  bonds  of  illusion: 

"The  mystic  silence  of  the  moon, 
Gradually  revived  in  me  immortality; 
The  sorrow  that  gently  stirred 
Was  melancholy-sweet;  sorrow  is  higher 
Far  than  joy,  the  sweetest  sorrow  is  supreme 
Amid  all  the  passions.     I  had 
No  sorrow  of  mortal  heart:  my  sorrow 
Was  one  given  before  the  human  sorrows 
Were  given  me.     Mortal  speech  died 
From  me:  my  speech  was  one  spoken  before 
God  bestowed  on  me  human  speech. 
There  is  nothing  like  the  moon-night 
When  I,  parted  from  the  voice  of  the  city, 
Drink  deep  of  Infinity  with  peace 
From  another,  a  stranger  sphere.    There  is  noth- 
ing 
Like  the  moon-night  when  the  rich,  noble  stars 


Itomntnation  in  Poetical  Temperament 

And  maiden  roses  interchange  their  long  looks 

of  love. 

When  I  raise  my  face  from  the  land  of  loss 
Unto  the  golden  air,  and  calmly  learn 
How  perfect  it  is  to  grow  still  as  a  star. 
There  is  nothing  like  the  moon-night 
When  I  walk  upon  the  freshest  dews, 
And  amid  the  warmest  breezes, 
With  all  the  thought  of  God 
And  all  the  bliss  of  man,  as  Adam 
Not  yet  driven  from  Eden,  and  to  whom 
Eve  was  not  yet  born.    What  a  bird 
Dreams  in  the  moonlight  is  my  dream: 
What  a  rose  sings  is  my  song." 

The  true  poet  does  not  need  individual  experi- 
ences of  either  sorrow  or  of  joy.  His  spirit 
is  so  attuned  to  the  song  of  the  universe;  so 
sympathetic  with  the  moans  of  earthly  trials, 
that  every  vibration  from  the  heart  of  the  uni- 
verse reaches  him;  stabs  him  with  its  sorrow,  or 
irradiates  his  being  with  joy. 

Jesus  is  fitly  portrayed  to  us  as  "The  Man  of 
Sorrows";  even  while  we  recognize  him  as  a 
self-conscious  son  of  God — an  immortal  being 
fully  aware  of  his  escape  from  enchantment,  and 
his  heirship  to  Paradise. 

Cosmic  consciousness  bestows  a  bliss  that  is 
past  all  words  to  describe  and  it  also  quickens 


Cosmic  Consciousness 

the  sympathies  and  attunes  the  soul  to  the  vibra- 
tions of  the  heart-cries  of  the  struggling  evolv- 
ing ones  who  are  still  travailing  in  the  pains  of 
the  new  birth.  We  must  be  willing  to  endure  the 
suffering  in  order  that  we  may  realize  the  joy; 
not  because  joy  is  the  reward  for  suffering,  but 
because  it  is  only  by  losing  sight  of  the  personal 
self  that  we  become  aware  of  that  inner  Self 
which  is  immortal  and  blissful;  and  when  we 
become  aware  of  the  reality  of  that  inner  Self, 
we  know  that  we  are  united  with  the  all,  and 
must  feel  with  all. 

It  would  be  impossible  in  one  volume  to 
enumerate  all  the  poets  who  have  given  evidence 
of  supra-consciousness.  As  has  been  previously 
pointed  out,  all  true  poets  are  at  least  tempo- 
rarily aware  of  their  dual  nature — rather,  one 
should  say,  the  dual  phases  of  their  conscious- 
ness. Many,  perhaps,  do  not  function  beyond  the 
higher  planes  of  the  psychic  vibrations,  but  even 
these  are  aware  of  the  reality  of  the  soul,  and 
the  illusion  of  the  sense-conscious,  mortal  life. 

Dante;  the  Brownings;  Shelley;  Swinbourne; 
Goethe;  Milton;  Keats;  Rosetti;  Shakespeare; 
Pope;  Lowell — where  should  we  stop,  did  we 
essay  to  draw  a  line? 


Illumination  in  Poetical  Temperament  277 

WORDSWORTH 

Wordsworth,  the  poet  of  Nature  has  given  us 
in  his  own  words,  so  clearly  cut  an  outline  of 
his  Illumination,  that  we  can  not  resist  record- 
ing here  the  salient  points  which  mark  his  ex- 
perience as  that  of  cosmic  consciousness,  tran- 
scending the  more  frequent  phenomenon  of  soul- 
consciousness  and  its  psychic  functions. 

Wordsworth's  Ode  to  Immortality  epitomizes 
the  lesson  of  the  Yoga  sutras — out  of  The  Ab- 
solute we  come,  and  return  to  immortal  bliss 
with  consciousness  added.  Wordsworth  also 
affords  an  excellent  example  of  our  contention 
that  cosmic  consciousness  does  not  come  to  us  at 
any  specific  age  or  time.  Wordsworth  distinctly 
says  that  as  a  child  he  possessed  this  faculty,  as 
for  example  his  oft-repeated  words,  both  in  con- 
versation and  in  his  biography: 

"Nothing  was  more  difficult  for  me  in  child- 
hood than  to  admit  the  notion  of  death,  as  a 
state  applicable  to  my  own  being.  It  was  not 
so  much  from  feelings  of  animal  vivacity  that 
my  difficulty  came,  as  from  a  sense  of  the  in- 
domitableness  of  the  spirit  within  me.  I  used 
to  brood  over  the  stories  of  Enoch  and  Elijah, 
and  almost  to  persuade  myself  that,  whatever 
might  become  of  others,  I  should  be  translated, 
in  something  of  the  same  way,  to  heaven.  With 


Cosmic  Consciousness 

a  feeling  congenial  to  this,  I  was  often  unable 
to  think  of  external  things  as  having  external 
existence,  and  I  communed  with  all  that  I  saw 
as  something  not  apart  from,  but  inherent  in, 
my  own  immaterial  nature.  Many  times  while 
going  to  school  have  I  grasped  at  a  wall  or  tree, 
to  recall  myself  from  this  abyss  of  idealism  to 
the  reality." 

In  later  life,  Wordsworth  lost  the  realization 
of  this  supra-consciousness,  in  what  a  commen- 
tator calls  a  "fever  of  rationalism";  but  the 
power  of  that  wonderful  spiritual  vision,  pro- 
nounced in  his  youth,  could  not  be  utterly  lost 
and  soon  after  he  reached  his  thirtieth  year,  he 
again  becomes  the  spiritual  poet,  fully  conscious 
of  his  higher  nature — the  cosmic  conscious  self. 

WILLIAM    SHARP— "FIONA    MACLEOD" 

A  pronounced  instance  of  the  two  phases  of 
consciousness,  is  that  of  the  late  William  Sharp, 
one  of  the  best  known  writers  of  the  modern 
English  school 

It  was  not  until  after  the  death  of  William 
Sharp,  that  the  secret  of  this  dual  personality 
was  given  to  the  public,  although  a  few  of  his 
most  intimates  had  known  it  for  several  years. 
In  the  "Memoirs"  compiled  by  Elizabeth  Sharp, 
wife  of  the  writer,  we  find  the  following: 

"The    life    of    William    Sharp    divides    itself 


Illumination  in  Poetical  Temperament  279 

naturally  into  two  halves :  the  first  ends  with  the 
publication  by  William  Sharp  of  "Vistas,"  and 
the  second  begins  with  "Pharais,"  the  first  book 
signed  Fiona  Macleod.1' 

In  these  memoirs,  the  point  is  made  obvious 
that  Fiona  Macleod  is  not  merely  a  nom  de  plume; 
neither  is  she  an  obsessing  personality ;  a  guide  or 
"control,"  as  the  Spiritualists  know  that  phenom- 
enon. Fiona  Macleod,  always  referred  to  by  Wil- 
liam Sharp  as  "she,"  is  his  own  higher  Self — the 
cosmic  consciousness  of  the  spiritual  man  which 
was  so  nearly  balanced  in  the  personality  of 
William  Sharp  as  to  appear  to  the  casual  ob- 
server as  another  person. 

It  is  said  that  the  identity  of  Fiona  Macleod, 
as  expressed  in  the  manuscript  put  out  under 
that  name,  was  seldom  suspected  to  be  that  of 
William  Sharp,  so  different  was  the  style  and  the 
tone  of  the  work  of  these  two  phases  of  the  same 
personality. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  quote  his 
wife's  opinion  regarding  the  two  phases  of  per- 
sonality, answering  the  belief  of  Yeats  the  Irish 
poet  that  he  believed  William  Sharp  to  be  the 
most  extraordinary  psychic  he  ever  encountered 
and  saying  that  Fiona  Macleod  was  evidently  a 
distinct  personality.  In  the  Memoirs,  Mrs.  Sharp 
comments  upon  this  and  says: 

"It  is  true,  as  I  have  said,  that  William  Sharp 


280  Cosmic  Consciousness 

seemed  a  different  person  when  the  Fiona  mood 
was  on  him;  but  that  he  had  no  recollection  of 
what  he  said  in  that  mood  was  not  the  case — 
the  psychic  visionary  power  belonged  exclusively 
to  neither;  it  influenced  both  and  was  dictated 
by  laws  he  did  not  understand." 

Mrs.  Sharp  refers  to  William  Sharp  and  Fiona, 
as  two  persons,  saying  that  "it  influenced  both," 
but  both  sides  of  his  personality  rather  than  both 
personalities,  is  what  she  claims.  In  further  ex- 
planation she  writes : 

"I  remember  from  early  days  how  he  would 
speak  of  the  momentary  curious  'dazzle  in  the 
brain,'  which  preceded  the  falling  away  of  all 
material  things  and  precluded  some  inner  vision 
of  great  beauty,  or  great  presences,  or  some  sym- 
bolic import — that  would  pass  as  rapidly  as  it 
came.  I  have  been  beside  him  when  he  has  been 
in  trance  and  I  have  felt  the  room  throb  with 
heightened  vibration." 

One  of  the  "dream-visions"  which  William 
Sharp  experienced  shortly  before  his  last  illness, 
is  headed  "Elemental  Symbolism,"  and  was  re- 
corded by  him  in  these  beautiful  words: 

"I  saw  Self,  or  Life,  symbolized  all  about  me 
as  a  limitless,  fathomless  and  lonely  sea.  I  took 
a  handful  and  threw  it  into  the  grey  silence  of 
ocean  air,  and  it  returned  at  once  as  a  swift  and 
potent  flame,  a  red  fire  crested  with  brown  sun- 


Illumination  in  Poetical  Temperament  281 

rise,  rushing  from  between  the  lips  of  sky  and 
sea  to  the  sound  as  of  innumerable  trumpets." 

"In  another  dream  he  visited  a  land  where 
there  was  no  more  war,  where  all  men  and  wo- 
men were  equal;  where  humans,  birds  and  beasts 
were  no  longer  at  enmity,  or  preyed  on  one  an- 
other. And  he  was  told  that  the  young  men  of 
the  land  had  to  serve  two  years  as  missionaries 
to  those  who  lived  at  the  uttermost  boundaries. 
'To  what  end  ?'  he  asked.  'To  cast  out  fear,  our 
last  enemy.'  In  the  house  of  his  host  he  was 
struck  by  the  beauty  of  a  framed  painting  that 
seemed  to  vibrate  with  rich  colors.  'Who 
painted  that?'  he  asked.  His  host  smiled,  'We 
have  long  since  ceased  to  use  brushes  and  paints. 
That  is  a  thought  projected  from  the  artist's 
brain,  and  its  duration  will  be  proportionate 
with  its  truth.'  " 

In  explanation  of  why  he  chose  to  put  out  so 
much  of  the  creative  work  of  his  brain  under 
the  signature  of  a  woman,  and  how  he  happened 
to  use  the  name  Fiona  Macleod,  Sharp  explained 
that  when  he  began  to  realize  how  strong  was 
the  feminine  element  in  the  book  Pharais,  he 
decided  to  issue  the  book  under  a  woman's  name 
and  Fiona  Macleod  "flashed  ready-made"  into 
his  mind.  "My  truest  self,  the  self  who  is  be- 
low all  other  selves  must  find  expression,"  he 
explained.  The  Self  that  is  above  the  other  self 


282  Cosmic  Consciousness 

is  what  he  should  have  said.  The  following  ex- 
tracts are  from  the  Fiona  Macleod  phase  of  Wil- 
liam Sharp  and  are  characteristic  of  the  Self,  as 
evidenced  in  all  instances  of  Illumination,  par- 
ticularly as  these  expressions  refer  to  the  noth- 
ingness of  death,  and  the  beauty  and  power  of 
Love.  "Do  not  speak  of  the  spiritual  life  as 
'another  life';  there  is  no  'other  life';  what  we 
mean  by  that,  is  with  us  now.  The  great  mis- 
conception of  death  is  that  it  is  the  only  door 
to  another  world."  This  testimony  corroborates 
that  of  Whitman  as  well  as  of  St.  Paul,  not- 
withstanding all  the  centuries  that  separate  the 
two.  St.  Paul  did  not  say  that  man  will  have  a 
spiritual  body,  but  that  he  has  a  spiritual  body 
as  well  as  a  corporeal  body. 

After  the  experience  of  his  illumination,  Wil- 
liam Sharp,  writing  as  Fiona  Macleod  constantly 
testified  to  the  ever-present  reality  of  his  spiritual 
life;  a  life  far  more  real  to  him  than  the  sense- 
conscious  life  although  he  alluded  to  it  as  his 
dream.  In  one  place  he  says : 

"Now  truly,  is  dreamland  no  longer  a  phan- 
tasy of  sleep,  but  a  loveliness  so  great  that,  like 
deep  music,  there  could  be  no  words  wherewith 
to  measure  it,  but  only  the  breathless  unspoken 
speech  of  the  soul  upon  whom  has  fallen  the 
secret,  dews." 

Of  the  impossibility  of  adequately  explaining 


Illumination  in  Poetical  Temperament  283 

the  mystery  of  Illumination  and  the  sensations  it 
inspires,  he  says,  speaking  through  the  Self  of 
Fiona  Macleod:  "I  write,  not  because  I  know  a 
mystery,  and  would  reveal  it,  but  because  I  have 
known  a  mystery  and  am  today  as  a  child  before 
it,  and  can  neither  reveal  nor  interpret  it." 

This  is  comparable  with  Whitman's  "when  I 
try  to  describe  the  best,  I  can  not.  My  tongue 
is  ineffectual  on  its  pivots." 

Another  sentence  from  Fiona: 

"There  is  a  great  serenity  in  the  thought  of 
death,  when  it  is  known  to  be  the  gate  of  Life." 

Like  all  who  have  gained  the  Great  Blessing, 
the  revelation  to  the  mind  of  that  higher  Self, 
that  we  are,  William  Sharp  suffered  keenly.  The 
despair  of  the  world  was  his,  co-equal  with  the 
Joy  of  the  Spirit.  Indeed,  his  is  at  once  the  gift 
and  the  burden  of  the  Illuminati. 

Mrs.  Mona  Caird  said  of  him:  "He  was 
almost  encumbered  by  the  infinity  of  his  percep- 
tions; by  the  thronging  interests,  intuitions, 
glimpses  of  wonders,  beauties,  and  mysteries 
which  made  life  for  him  a  pageant  and  a  splendor 
such  as  is  only  disclosed  to  the  soul  that  has  to 
bear  the  torment  and  revelations  of  genius." 

The  burden  of  the  world's  sorrow;  the  long- 
ings and  aspirations  of  the  soul  that  has  glimpsed, 
or  that  has  more  fully  cognized  the  realms  of  the 
Spirit  which  are  its  rightful  home;  are  ever  a 


284  Cosmic  Consciousness 

part  of  the  price  of  liberation.  The  illumined 
mind  sees  and  hears  and  feels  the  vibrations 
that  emanate  from  all  who  are  travailing  in  the 
meshes  of  the  sense-conscious  life;  but  through 
all  the  sympathetic  sorrow,  there  runs  the  thread 
of  a  divine  assurance  and  certainty  of  profound 
joy — a  bliss  that  passes  comprehension  or  descrip- 
tion. 

Mrs.  Sharp,  in  the  final  conclusion  of  the  Mem- 
oirs says  "to  quote  my  husband's  own  words — 
ever  below  all  the  stress  and  failure,  below  all 
the  triumph  of  his  toil,  lay  the  beauty  of  his 
dream." 

In  accordance  with  an  oft-repeated  request, 
these  lines  are  inscribed  on  the  lona  cross  carved 
in  lava,  which  marks  the  grave  wherein  is  laid  to 
rest  the  earthly  form  of  William  Sharp: 

"Farewell  to  the  known  and  exhausted, 
Welcome  the  unknown  and  illimitable." 

And  this: 

"Love  is  more  great  than  we  conceive,  and 
death  is  the  keeper  of  unknown  redemptions." 

They  are  from  his  higher  Self ;  from  the  illu- 
mined "Dominion  of  Dreams." 


CHAPTER  XV 

METHODS  OF  ATTAINMENT:  THE  WAY 
OF  ILLUMINATION 

Oriental  philosophies  recognize  four  important 
methods  of  yoga. 

Yoga  is  the  word  which  signifies  "uniting  with 
God." 

From  what  has  gone  before  in  these  pages, 
the  reader  will  understand  that  unity  with  God 
means  to  us,  the  uncovering  of  the  god-nature 
within  or  above,  the  human  personality ;  it  means 
the  attainment  and  retainment  in  fullness  of  cos- 
mic consciousness.  We  do  not  believe  that  any 
one  retains  full  and  complete  realization  of  cosmic 
consciousness  and  remains  in  the  physical  body. 
The  numerous  instances  to  which  we  allude  in 
former  chapters,  are  at  best,  but  temporary  flights 
into  that  state,  which  is  the  goal  of  the  soul's 
pilgrimage,  and  the  only  means  of  escape  from 
the  "ceaseless  round  of  births  and  deaths"  which 
so  weighed  upon  the  heart  of  Gautama. 

The  paths  of  yoga  then,  are  the  methods  by 
which  the  mind,  in  the  personal  self,  is  made  to 
perceive  the  reality  of  the  higher  Self,  and  its 


286  Cosmic  Consciousness 

relation  to  the  Supreme  Intelligence — The  Abso- 
lute. 

The  various  methods  or  paths  are  pointed  out, 
but  no  one,  nor  all  of  these  paths  guarantees 
illumination  as  a  reward  for  diligence.  That 
which  is  in  the  heart  of  the  disciple  is  the  key 
that  unlocks  the  door. 

These  paths  are  called: 

Karma  Yoga;  Raja  Yoga;  Gnani  Yoga; 
Bhakti  Yoga. 

Karma  Yoga  is  the  path  of  cheerful  submis- 
sion to  the  conditions  in  which  the  disciple  finds 
himself,  believing  that  those  conditions  are  his 
because  of  his  needs,  and  in  order  that  he  may 
fulfill  that  which  he  has  attracted  to  himself. 
The  admonition  "whatever  thy  hand  finds  to  do 
that  doest  thou  with  all  thy  heart,"  sums  up  the 
lessons  of  the  path  of  Karma  Yoga.  The  urge  to 
achieve;  to  do;  to  accomplish;  to  strive  and  at- 
tain, actuates  those  who  have,  whether  with  con- 
scious intent,  or  because  of  a  vague  "inward 
urge,"  devoted  their  lives  to  taking  an  active  part 
in  the  material  or  intellectual  achievements  of 
the  race. 

There  are  those  who  are  blindly  following  (as 
far  as  their  mental  operations  are  concerned), 
the  path  of  Karma  Yoga;  that  is,  they  work 
without  knowing  why  they  work;  they  work 
because  they  are  compelled  to  do  so,  as  slaves  of 
the  law;  these  will  work  their  way  out  of  that 


Methods  of  Attainment  287 

necessity  of  fulfillment,  in  the  course  of  time, 
even  though  they  blindly  follow  the  urge;  but, 
if  they  could  be  made  to  work  as  masters  of 
the  conditions  under  which  they  labor,  instead 
of  as  slaves  to  environment,  they  would  find 
themselves  at  the  end  of  that  path.  Karma  Yoga 
would  have  been  accomplished. 

"Work  as  those  work  who  are  ambitious"  but 
be  not  thou  enslaved  by  the  delusion  of  personal 
ambition — this  is  the  password  to  liberation  from 
Karma  Yoga. 

Raja  Yoga  is  the  way  of  the  strongly  indi- 
vidualized will.  "Knowledge  is  power"  is  the 
hope  which  encourages  the  disciple  on  the  path 
of  Raja  Yoga.  He  seeks  to  master  the  personal 
self  by  meditation,  by  concentration  of  will;  by 
self  discipline  and  sacrifice.  When  the  ego  gains 
complete  control  over  the  mental  faculties,  so 
that  the  mind  may  be  directed  as  the  individual 
will  suggests,  the  student  has  mastered  the  path 
of  Raja  Yoga.  If  his  mastery  is  complete,  he 
finds  himself  regarding  his  body  as  the  instru- 
ment of  the  Self,  and  the  body  and  its  functions 
are  under  the  guidance  of  the  ego;  the  mind  is 
the  lever  with  which  this  Self  raises  the  con- 
sciousness from  the  lower  to  the  higher  vibra- 
tions. The  student  who  has  mastered  Raja  Yoga 
can  induce  the  trance  state ;  control  his  dreams  as 
well  as  his  waking  thoughts;  he  may  learn  to 


288  Cosmic  Consciousness 

practice  magic  in  its  higher  aspects,  but  unless 
he  is  extremely  careful  this  power  will  tempt 
him  to  use  his  knowledge  for  selfish  or  unworthy 
purposes. 

,  Let  the  student  of  Raja  Yoga  bear  in  mind 
the  one  great  and  high  purpose  of  his  efforts, 
which  should  be:  the  realization  of  his  spiritual 
nature,  and  the  development  of  his  individual 
self,  so  that  it  finally  merges  into  the  spiritual 
Self,  thus  gaining  immortality  "in  the  flesh." 

Does  this  "flesh"  mean  the  physical  body? 
Not  necessarily,  because  this  that  we  see  and 
name  "the  physical  body"  is  not  the  real  body, 
any  more  than  the  clothing  that  covers  it,  is  the 
person,  although  frequently  we  recognize  ac- 
quaintances by  their  clothing.  Immortality  in  the 
flesh  means  cessation  from  further  incarnations, 
the  last  and  present  personality  including  all  oth- 
ers in  consciousness,  until  we  can  say,  "I,  mani- 
festing in  the  physical,  as  so-and-so,  am  now  and 
forever  immortal,  remembering  other  manifesta- 
tions which  were  not  sufficiently  complete,  but 
which  added  to  the  sum  of  my  consciousness 
until  now  I  know  myself  a  deathless  being." 

To  those  who  seek  the  path  of  Raja  Yoga,  we 
recommend  meditation  upon  Patanjali's  Yoga 
Sutras,  of  which  there  are  several  translations, 
differing  slightly  as  to  interpretation.  We  have 
selected  some  of  the  most  important,  from  the 


Methods  of  Attainment  289 

translations  by  Johnston.  They  are  designed  to 
make  clear  the  difference  between  the  self  of 
personality,  and  the  Self,  or  atman  which  mani- 
fests in  personality: 

"The  personal  self  seeks  to  feast  upon  life, 
through  a  failure  to  perceive  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  personal  self  and  the  spiritual  man. 
All  personal  experience  really  exists  for  the  sake 
of  another:  namely,  the  spiritual  man.  By  per- 
fectly concentrated  meditation  on  experience  for 
the  sake  of  the  Self,  comes  a  knowledge  of  the 
spiritual  man." 

The  wise  person  seeks  experience  in  order  that 
he  may  attain  to  the  standard  of  the  spiritual 
man;  doing  all  things  for  the  lessons  that  they 
teach;  working  "as  those  work  who  are  ambi- 
tious," and  yet  having  no  personal  ambition. 
Looking  on  all  life,  and  at  the  self  of  person- 
ality and  knowing  the  illusion  of  the  self  he  is 
raising  the  personal  self  to  the  spiritual  plane; 
but  always  he  has  the  handicap  of  the  desires 
of  the  lower  self,  the  personal,  which  "seeks  to 
feast  on  life,"  because  it  is  born  of  the  external, 
and  its  inherent  appetites  are  for  the  satisfaction 
and  pleasures  of  that  physical  self. 

We  do  not  say  to  look  upon  the  body  with 
its  needs  and  its  desires,  as  an  enemy  to  be  over- 
come; or  that  its  allurements  are  dangerous 
although  pleasurable.  No.  We  say  to  the  stu- 


290  Cosmic  Consciousness 

dent,  "control  the  desires  of  the  body.  Make 
them  do  the  bidding  of  the  Self,  because  it  is 
only  by  so  doing  that  you  can  gain  the  immortal 
heights  of  god-hood,  looking  down  upon  the 
fleeting  dream  of  personality,  with  its  so-called 
pleasures,  as  a  bad  nightmare  compared  to  the 
joys  that  await  the  immortals. 

Therefore,  concentrate  upon  experience  for 
the  sake  of  the  Self  that  you  are,  and  learn  the 
lesson  of  your  experience,  throwing  aside  the 
experience  itself,  as  you  would  cast  aside  the 
skin  of  an  orange  from  which  the  juice  had 
been  extracted.  Don't  fill  the  areas  of  your 
mortal  mind  with  rubbish — with  memories  of 
"benefits  forgot;"  or  loves  unrequited;  or 
friendships  broken;  or  misspent  hours;  or  un- 
hallowed words  and  acts. 

Cull  from  each  day's  experience  all  that  helps 
to  develop  the  spiritual  man — all  that  will  stand 
the  test  of  immortality — kind  words  and  deeds; 
principle  maintained;  a  wrong  forgiven;  a  ser- 
vice cheerfully  extended;  a  tolerance  and  gen- 
erosity for  the  mistakes  of  others  as  well  as  for 
your  own.  These  seem  small  things  to  the  per- 
sonal self — the  ambitious,  the  gloating,  the  sense- 
desiring  self  of  the  personality;  we  scarcely  take 
them  into  account,  but  to  the  Self  that  is  seek- 
ing immortality,  these  are  the  grains  of  wheat 
from  the  load  of  chaff;  the  diamond  in  the  car- 


Methods  of  Attainment  agi 

bon;  the  wings  upon  which  the  spirit  soars  to 
realms  of  bliss. 

Meditate  upon  this  sutra. 

"By  perfectly  concentrated  meditation  upon 
the  heart,  the  interior  being,  comes  the  knowl- 
edge of  consciousness." 

The  heart  is  the  guide  of  the  inner  nature,  as 
the  head  is  of  the  outer.  Love,  the  Most  High 
God,  is  not  born  in  the  head,  but  in  the  heart. 
The  heart  travails  in  pain  through  sorrow  and 
loss  and  compassion  and  pity  and  loneliness  and 
aspiration  and  sensitiveness;  and  lo!  there  is 
born  from  this  pain,  the  spiritual  Self,  which 
embraces  the  lesser  consciousness,  enfolding  all 
your  consciousness  in  the  softness  and  bliss  of 
pure,  Seraphic  Love — the  heritage  of  your  im- 
mortality. 

Meditate  long  and  wisely  upon  this  sutra. 

"Through  perfectly  concentrated  meditation  on 
the  light  in  the  head,  come  the  visions  of  the 
Masters  who  have  attained ;  or  through  the  divin- 
ing power  of  intuition  he  knows  all  things." 

There  is  a  point  in  the  head,  anatomically 
named  "the  pineal  gland";  this  is  frequently 
alluded  to  as  the  seat  of  the  soul,  but  the  soul  is 
not  confined  within  the  body,  therefore,  it  is  in 
the  nature  of  a  key  between  the  sense-conscious 
self  and  the  spiritually  conscious  Self;  it  is  like 
a  central  receiving  station,  and  may  be  "called 


292  Cosmic  Consciousness 

up,"  and  aroused  to  consciousness  by  meditation. 
Realizing  and  focusing  the  light  of  the  spiritual 
nature  upon  this  part  of  the  head,  opens  up  those 
unexplored  areas  of  consciousness  in  which  the 
masters  dwell,  and  the  student  knows  by  intui- 
tion, which  is  a  higher  aspect  of  reason,  many 
things  which  were  heretofore  incomprehensible 
to  the  merely  sense-conscious  man. 

The  spiritual  Self  is  not  a  being  unlike  and 
wholly  foreign  to  our  concept  of  the  perfect  mor- 
tal-man; all  the  powers  of  discernment  which 
we  find  in  mortal  consciousness  are  accentuated, 
intensified,  refined;  all  grossness,  all  imperfec- 
tions and  embarrassments  removed;  pleasure 
sensitized  to  ecstasy;  love  glorified  to  worship. 

"Shapeliness,  beauty,  force,  the  temper  of  the 
diamond;  these  are  the  endowments  of  that 
body." 

The  spiritual  body  is  shapely,  strong,  beautiful, 
imperishable,  as  the  diamond,  with  all  its  bril- 
liancy. No  vapory,  uncertain,  or  unreal  being, 
but  the  Real,  with  the  husk  of  sense-conscious- 
ness dropped  off,  and  only  the  kernels  of  truth 
buried  in  the  chaff  of  Experience,  retained  from 
the  experiences  of  the  personal  self. 

"When  the  spiritual  man  is  perfectly  disen- 
tangled from  the  psychic  body,  he  attains  to 
mastery  over  all  things  and  to  a  knowledge  of  all." 

The  spiritual  Self,  the  cosmic  conscious  Self, 


Methods  of  Attainment  293 

must  not  be  confounded  with  the  psychic  body, 
which  is  formed  from  the  emotions — passions; 
fears;  hatreds;  ambitions;  resentments;  envy; 
regrets.  Know  thyself  as  a  being  superior  to 
all  baser  emotions,  and  the  mastery  over  them 
is  complete.  They  are  not  destroyed,  but  con- 
verted into  love — the  everlasting  Source  of  Life. 

"There  should  be  complete  overcoming  of 
allurement  or  pride  in  the  invitations  of  the  dif- 
ferent regions  of  life,  lest  attachment  to  things 
evil  arise  once  more." 

It  is  said  that  the  disciples,  seeking  the  paths 
of  Yoga,  reach  three  degrees  or  stages  of  devel- 
opment; first,  those  who  are  just  entering  the 
path;  second,  those  who  are  in  the  realm  of 
allurements,  subject  to  temptations;  third,  those 
who  have  won  the  victory  over  the  senses  and  the 
external  life — maya;  fourth,  those  who  are 
firmly  entrenched  behind  the  bulwark  of  cer- 
tainty; the  spiritual  being  realized;  cosmic  con- 
sciousness attained  and  retained. 

"By  absence  of  all  self  indulgence  at  this  point, 
also,  the  seeds  of  bondage  of  sorrow  are  de- 
stroyed, and  pure  spiritual  being  is  attained." 

Self-abnegation  and  self-sacrifice  have  ever 
been  the  way  of  spiritual  development;  but  we 
are  prone  to  misunderstand  and  mistake  the  true 
interpretation  of  this  admonition;  men  shut 
themselves  in  monasteries  and  women  become 


294  Cosmic  Consciousness 

nuns  and  recluses  as  a  penance,  in  order  to  pur- 
chase, as  it  were,  absolution  (at-one-ness  with 
The  Absolute,  which  knows  not  sin)  ;  this  is  not 
the  point  intended  here.  Spiritual  consciousness 
can  not  be  bought;  the  desires  of  the  personal 
self  may  be  sublimated  into  divine  force  and 
power,  through  recognizing  the  desires  of  the 
self  as  baubles  which  attract  and  fill  the  eye, 
until  we  fail  to  see  the  glories  of  that  which 
awaits  us. 

"Thereafter,  the  whole  personal  being  bends 
toward  illumination,  full  of  the  spirit  of  Eternal 
Life." 

Here  again,  we  have  assurance  that  the  spirit- 
ually-conscious man,  the  "luminous  body"  is  not 
a  being  apart  from  the  self  that  we  know  our 
inner  nature  to  be,  but  rather  it  is  the  inner  Self 
even  as  we  in  our  ignorance  and  our  lack  of 
initiation,  know  it,  raised  to  a  higher  realm  of 
consciousness;  our  desires  refined,  spiritualized, 
made  pure,  and  our  faculties  strengthened  and 
immortalized.  We  do  not  withdraw  from  ex- 
perience but  we  draw  from  Experience  the  lesson 
— the  hidden  wisdom  of  the  initiate. 

Meditate  upon  these  sutras. 

"He  who,  after  he  has  attained,  is  wholly  free 
from  self,  is  set  in  a  cloud  of  holiness  which  is 
called  Illumination.  This  is  the  true  spiritual 
consciousness." 


Methods  of  Attainment  295 

This  aphorism  is  self-explanatory.  He  who 
attains  illumination,  and  afterward  lives  and  acts 
from  the  inner  consciousness — the  spiritual  man, 
is  free  from  the  desires  of  the  sense-conscious 
life,  with  its  consequent  disappointments;  he  sees 
everything  from  the  spiritual,  rather  than  the 
mental  point  of  view,  and  understands  the  phrase 
"and  behold,  all  was  good." 

"Thereon  comes  surcease  from  sorrow  and 
the  burden  of  toil:' 

The  one  who  has  attained  cosmic  conscious- 
ness, acting  always  from  the  Self,  and  not  from 
personal  desires,  is  set  free  from  karma;  he  has 
fulfilled  the  cycle;  he  makes  no  more  bondage 
for  himself;  he  is  free  and  is  already  immortal. 

"When  that  condition  of  consciousness  is 
reached,  which  is  far-reaching,  and  not  confined 
to  the  body,  which  is  outside  the  body  and  not 
conditioned  by  it,  then  the  veil  which  conceals 
the  light  is  worn  away." 

The  acquisition  of  spiritual  consciousness,  Illu- 
mination, endows  the  mortal  mind  also,  with  a 
degree  of  power  sufficient  to  penetrate  the  veil 
of  illusion — the  maya;  the  disciple  then  sees  for 
the  first  time,  all  things  in  their  true  light.  The 
separation  between  the  personal  self,  and  the 
spiritual  being  that  we  are,  is  so  fine  as  to  be 
like  a  cob-web  veil,  and  yet  how  few  penetrate  it. 
The  suddenness  with  which  this  awakening  (for 


296  Cosmic  Consciousness 

it  is  like  awakening  from  a  dream  of  the  senses), 
comes,  startles  and  surprises  us,  and  then  we  be- 
come astonished  at  the  transparency  of  the  bonds 
that  bound  us  to  the  limitations  of  the  mortal, 
when  we  might  have  soared  to  realms  of  light. 

"By  perfectly  concentrated  meditation  on  the 
correlation  of  the  body  with  the  ether,  and  by 
thinking  of  it  as  light  as  thistle-down,  will  come 
the  power  to  traverse  the  ether." 

The  Zens  say  that  the  way  of  the  gods  is 
through  the  air  and  afterwards  in  the  ether. 
This  means  that  we  must  evolve  from  the  physi- 
cal to  the  psychic,  and  thence  to  the  etheric  or 
spiritual  body.  This  is  the  \vay  of  the  many.  It 
is  only  the  few  who  attain  to  perfect  spiritual 
consciousness  while  manifesting  in  the  physical, 
but  these  do  not  have  to  undergo  "the  second 
death"  w^hich  is  the  dropping  off  of  the  psychic 
body,  and  assuming  the  spiritual  body.  They 
attain  to  immortality  in  the  flesh,  (i.  e.,  in  the 
present  personality). 

"Thereupon  will  come  the  manifestation  of  the 
atomic  and  other  powers,  which  are  the  endow- 
ment of  the  body,  together  with  its  unassailable 
force." 

The  body  here  referred  to,  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  is  the  etheric  or  spiritual  body,  which 
possesses  the  power  to  disintegrate  matter;  the 
power  to  annihilate  time  and  space;  so  that  *rs 


Methods  of  Attainment  297 

may  look  backward  into  remote  antiquity  and 
forward  into  boundless  futurity;  or  as  the  com- 
mentator says,  "he  can  touch  the  moon  with  the 
tip  of  his  finger";  the  power  of  levitation  and 
limitless  extension;  the  power  of  command;  the 
power  of  creative  will.  These  are  the  endow- 
ments of  the  spiritual  body  with  which  the  dis- 
ciple is  seeking  to  establish  his  identity — that  he 
may  overcome  the  second  death  and  become  im- 
mortal in  consciousness,  here  and  now. 

Of  this  spiritual,  or  etheric  body  it  is  said, 
"Fire  burns  it  not;  water  wets  it  not;  the  sword 
cleaves  it  not;  dry  winds  parch  it  not.  It  is  un- 
assailable." 

Meditate  upon  this  sutra. 

"For  him  who  discerns  between  the  mind  and 
the  spiritual  man  (the  Self)  there  comes  perfect 
fruition  of  the  longing  after  the  real  being." 

When  the  disciple  has  once  grasped  the  fact 
that  he  is  a  soul,  and  possesses  a  mind  and  a 
physical  covering,  he  has  entered  on  the  way  of 
Illumination,  and  must  inevitably  reach  the  goal ; 
then  shall  he  find  "perfect  fruition  of  the  long- 
ing" after  the  perfect  Self,  and  its  completement 
in  union  with  the  love  that  he  craves.  "Have  you, 
in  lonely  darkness  longed  for  companionship  and 
consolation?  You  shall  have  angels  and  arch- 
angels for  your  friends  and  all  the  immortal 
hosts  of  the  Dawn." 


298  Cosmic  Consciousness 

Such  are  the  Yoga  sutras,  or  aphorisms,  as 
enunciated  by  Patanjali. 

If  the  aspiring  one  were  to  give  up  a  whole 
lifetime  to  their  practice,  gaining  at  last  the 
consciousness  of  immortal  life  and  love,  what  a 
small  price  to  pay. 

Raja  Yoga  with  its  methods  and  exercises,  is 
the  path  of  knowledge,  through  application ;  con- 
centration ;  meditation. 

The  practice  of  Raja  Yoga  will  lead  the  student 
to  the  path  of  Gnani  Yoga;  and  to  the  realiza- 
tion that  Bhakti  Yoga,  the  way  of  love  and 
service  will  be  included,  not  as  an  arduous  task; 
not  as  a  study,  or  as  a  means  to  an  end,  but  be- 
cause of  the  love  of  it. 

Gnani  Yoga  comes  as  complementary  to  prac- 
tice of  the  sutras  because  knowledge  applied  for 
the  purpose  of  spiritual  attainment  brings  irisdom. 
Gnani  Yoga,  then,  is  the  path  of  wisdom.  The 
follower  of  Gnani  Yoga  seeks  the  occult  or  hid- 
den wisdom,  and  always  has  before  him  the  idea 
of  whether  this  or  that  be  of  the  Self,  the  atman, 
or  of  the  self,  the  personal,  gradually  eliminat- 
ing from  his  desires  all  that  does  not  answer  the 
test  of  its  reality  in  spiritual  consciousness;  he 
welcomes  experiences  of  all  kinds,  as  so  many 
lessons  from  which  he  extracts  the  fine  grain  of 
truth,  and  throws  aside  the  husks;  he  accepts 
nothing  blindly  or  in  faith,  but  "proves  all  things 


Methods  of  Attainment  299 

holding  fast  to  that  which  is  good";  not  that 
he  lacks  faith,  but  because  the  very  nature  of  his 
inquiry  is  to  discover  the  interior  nature  and  its 
relation  to  God. 

There  are  many  in  the  world  of  today  who  feel 
the  urge  toward  the  path  of  Gnani  Yoga,  be- 
cause of  the  conviction  that  is  forcing  itself  upon 
every  truly  enlightened  mind,  that  civilization 
with  all  its  wonderful  achievements,  does  not 
promise  happiness,  or  solve  the  question  of  the 
soul's  urge.  In  short,  the  educated,  and  the 
well  conditioned,  if  he  be  a  thinker,  and  not  sub- 
merged in  may  a,  lost  in  the  personal  self, 
inevitably  finds  himself  searching  for  the  real 
in  all  this  labyrinth  of  mind  creations  and  sea 
of  emotions,  and  then  as  a  rule,  he  seeks  the  path 
of  Gnani  Yoga,  because  his  intellect  must  be 
satisfied,  even  though  his  heart  calls.  The  mys- 
tic, the  teacher,  and  the  philosopher  are  following 
the  path  of  Gnani;  so  is  the  true  occultist,  but 
many  who  deal  in  so-called  occultism  are  employ- 
ing knowledge  only,  entirely  missing  the  higher 
quality — zvisdom. 

Bhakti  Yoga,  the  path  of  self-surrender;  the 
thorny  way  through  the  emotions ;  the  "blood  of 
the  heart,"  is  the  short  cut  to  Illumination,  if 
such  a  thing  could  be.  But  there  is  no  "short 
cut" ;  nor  yet  a  long  road. 

Some  one  has  said  there  are  as  many  ways  tc 


300  Cosmic  Consciousness 

God  as  there  are  souls.  And  yet,  all  persons  who 
are  on  the  upward  climb,  are  demonstrating  some 
one  of  these  four  paths,  or  a  combination  of  the 
paths.  It  is,  however,  a  significant  fact  that  we 
do  not  hear  anything  of  the  great  intellectual 
attainments  of  the  three  great  masters — Kirshna, 
Buddha  and  Jesus,  but  only  of  their  great  com- 
passion; their  wonderful  love  for  mankind,  ancf 
all  living  things. 

St.  Paul,  who  was  probably  an  educated  man, 
as  he  held  a  position  of  prominence  among  those 
in  authority,  previous  to  his  conversion,  laid  par- 
ticular stress  upon  the  love-nature  as  the  way  of 
illumination. 

And  Jesus  repeatedly  said  "Love  is  the  fulfill- 
ing of  the  law."  What  is  the  law?  The  law 
of  evolution  and  involution;  of  generation  and 
regeneration;  when  the  time  should  come,  that 
Love  was  to  reign  on  the  planet  earth  as  it  does 
in  the  heavens  above  the  earth,  then  should  the 
kingdom  of  which  he  foretold  "be  at  hand,"  and 
in  conclusion  of  this  to-be,  Jesus  promised  that 
the  law  would  be  fulfilled  when  Love  should 
come. 

So  Swami  Vivekananda  in  his  exposition  of 
Vedanta  declares : 

"Love  is  higher  than  work,  than  yoga;  than 
knowledge.  Day  and  night  think  of  God  in  the 
midst  of  all  your  activities.  The  daily  necessary 


Methods  of  Attainment  301 

thoughts  can  all  be  thought  through  God.  Eat 
to  Him,  drink  to  Him,  sleep  to  Him,  see  Him  in 
all.  Let  us  open  ourselves  to  the  one  Divine 
Actor,  and  let  Him  act  and  do  nothing  ourselves. 
Complete  self -surrender  is  the  only  way.  Put 
out  self,  lose  it;  forget  it." 

Let  us  substitute  for  the  words  "God,"  and 
"Him,"  the  one  word  Love,  and  see  what  it  is 
that  we  are  told  to  do. 

Love  of  doing  good  frees  us  from  work,  even 
though  we  labor  from  early  dawn  until  the  night 
falls;  so,  too,  if  we  have  some  loved  one  for 
whom  we  strive,  we  can  endure  every  hardship 
with  equanimity,  as  far  as  our  own  comfort  is 
concerned.  Few  human  beings  in  the  world  to- 
day are  so  enmeshed  in  the  personal  self  as  to 
work  merely  for  the  gratification  of  selfish  in- 
stincts. The  hard-working  man,  whether  laborer 
or  banker,  must  have  some  one  else  for  whom  he 
struggles  and  strives;  otherwise,  he  descends  to 
a  level  below  that  of  the  brute. 

This  is  the  reason  for  the  family;  the  lodge; 
the  community;  the  nation;  there  must  be  some 
motive  other  than  the  preservation  of  the  personal 
self,  in  order  to  develop  the  higher  quality  of 
love  which  embraces  the  world,  until  the  spirit 
of  a  Christ  takes  possession  of  the  human  and 
he  would  gladly  offer  himself  a  sacrifice  to  the 


302  Cosmic  Consciousness 

world,  if  by  so  doing  he  could  eliminate  all  the 
pain  from  the  world. 

How  natural  it  is  to  feel,  when  we  see  a  loved 
one  suffering,  that  we  would  gladly  take  upon 
ourselves  that  pain ;  the  heart  fills  with  love  until 
it  aches  with  the  burden  of  it;  this  love  enlarged, 
expanded  and  impersonal  in  its  application  is  the 
same  love  with  which  we  are  told  to  love  God, 
and  to  "do  all  for  Him."  Do  all  for  love  of  all 
the  other  hearts  in  the  Universe  that  feel  as  we 
feel  when  their  loved  ones  suffer — that  is  the 
way  to  love  God — it  is  the  only  way  we  know. 
We  only  know  divine  love  through  human  love; 
human  love  is  divine  when  it  is  unselfish  and 
eternal — not  fed  upon  carnality,  but  anchored  in 
spiritual  complement. 

The  story  of  Abou  Ben  Adhem  ("may  his 
tribe  increase")  tells  us  how  we  may  know  who 
loves  the  Lord.  The  angel  wrote  the  names  of 
those  who  loved  the  Lord  most  faithfully  and 
fully,  and  coming  to  Abou  Ben  Adhem  asked 
if  he  should  write  his  name,  and  received  the 
reply  that  he  could  not  say  whether  he  deeply 
loved  the  Lord,  but  he  was  quite  certain  that 
the  angel  could  "write  me  as  one  who  loves  his 
fellow-men."  And,  lo!  when  the  list  was  made 
and  the  names  of  all  who  loved  the  Lord  re- 
corded, Abou  Ben  Adhem's  name  headed  the  list. 

The  Vedanta  philosophy  teaches  non-attach- 


Methods  of  Attainment  303 

ment  and  Vivekananda  himself  says:  "To  love 
any  one  personally  is  bondage.  Love  all  alike 
then  all  desires  fall  off." 

To  love  only  the  personal  self  of  any  one  binds 
us  to  the  sorrow  of  loss  and  of  separation  and 
disappointment;  but  to  love  any  one  spiritually 
is  to  establish  a  bond  which  can  never  be  broken ; 
which  insures  reunion,  and  defies  time  and  space. 

We  can  not  love  all  alike,  though  we  can  love 
all  humanity  impersonally.  All  desires  that  have 
their  root  in  the  sense-conscious  plane  of  expres- 
sion, will  fall  off  when  the  heart  is  anchored  in 
spiritual  love ;  but  let  it  be  understood  that  spirit- 
ual love  is  not  opposed  to  human  love ;  we  do  not 
grow  into  spiritual  love  by  denying  the  human, 
but  by  plussing  the  human. 

Spiritual  consciousness  is  all  that  is  good  and 
pure  and  noble,  and  satisfying  in  the  mortal  and 
infinitely  more.  It  is  the  love  of  personal  self 
plus  the  Self — the  atman. 

Love  is  never  unrequited.  It  is  never  wasted ; 
never  foolish.  Love  is  its  own  self-justification; 
if  it  be  real  love,  and  not  vanity,  or  self  admira- 
tion, misnamed,  give  it  freely,  and  don't  ask  for 
a  return;  don't  ask  whither  it  leads;  only  ask 
if  it  is  real — if  the  love  you  feel  is  for  the  ob- 
ject of  your  love,  or  if  it  is  for  yourself — for 
you  to  possess  and  to  minister  to  your  pleasure; 


304  Cosmic  Consciousness 

ask  whether  it  is  from  the  senses  or  from  the 
heart. 

The  way  of  the  Bhakti  yoga,  is  the  way  of  love 
and  service,  because  service  to  our  fellow  beings, 
is  the  inevitable  complement  of  love.  Where  we 
truly  love,  we  gladly  serve.  It  has  been  said: 
"The  chela  treads  a  hair-line."  That  is  to  say, 
the  initiate  must  be  prepared  to  meet  defeat  at 
every  turn.  Not  defeat  of  his  object  of  attain- 
ment, but  the  personal  defeat  that  so  many  seek 
in  the  delusion  that  the  world's  ideal  of  success 
is  the  real  success. 

In  conclusion  we  can  only  repeat  what  has 
been  told  and  retold  many  times  by  all  inspired 
ones,  of  whatever  creed  and  race ;  namely,  think 
and  act  always  from  the  inner  Self,  cheerfully 
taking  the  consequences  of  your  choice.  Let 
not  the  opinions  of  the  illusory  world  of  the 
senses  balk  and  thwart  you.  Let  not  the  "world- 
ly-wise" swerve  you  from  your  ideal  and  your 
faith  in  the  final  goal  of  your  earthly  pilgrimage 
— the  attainment  of  spiritual  consciousness  in 
your  present  personality;  this  is  the  meaning  of 
immortality  in  the  flesh  Doubt  not  this. 

Make  love  your  ideal;  your  guide;  your  final 
goal;  look  for  the  inner  Self  of  all  whom  you 
meet.  "Learn  to  look  into  the  hearts  of  men," 
says  the  injunction  in  Light  on  the  Path;  dismiss 
from  your  mind  all  the  accumulation  of  tradi- 


Methods  of  Attainment  305 

tional  concepts  and  prejudices  that  are  not 
grounded  in  love,  and  above  all  falter  not,  nor 
doubt — no  matter  what  seeming  hardships  you 
encounter  in  your  earthly  pilgrimage;  they  are 
but  the  Indian-clubs  of  your  soul's  gymnasium — 
Experience.  "Meet  with  Triumph  and  Disaster, 
and  treat  these  two  impostors  just  the  same." 

Triumph  and  Disaster  as  seen  with  the  eyes 
of  sense-consciousness  are  both  illusions;  but 
don't  for  this  reason  cease  your  work.  The 
phrase  "you  must  work  out  your  own  salvation" 
Is  true.  So  also,  you  must  be  willing  to  do  your 
part  in  working  out  the  salvation  of  the  world; 
salvation  means  simply  the  realization  of  the 
spiritual  Being  that  you  are — the  attainment  of 
that  state  of  Illumination  which  guarantees  im- 
mortality. 

Experience  teaches  one  important  lesson:  Our 
sense-conscious  life  is  filled  with  symbolic  lan- 
guage if  we  have  the  inner  eye  of  discernment. 
An  unescapable  truth  is  symbolized  in  our  daily 
life  by  the  evidence  that  we  get  nothing  for  noth- 
ing. Everything  has  its  price. 

Immortality  godhood,  will  not  be  handed  to 
you  on  a  silver  salver;  neither  can  any  one  with- 
hold it  from  you,  if  you  desire  it  above  all  things. 
And,  altho'  it  has  its  price,  yet  you  can  not  buy 
it.  A  seeming  paradox,  but  the  Initiate  will  see 
k  all  clearly  enough  when  the  time  come*. 


306  Cosmic  Consciousness 

"He  who  would  scale  the  Heights  of  Understand- 
ing 

From  whence  the  soul  looks  out  forever  free 
Must  falter  not;  nor  fail;  all  truth  demanding 
Though  he  bear  the  cross  and  know  Gethsemane.'' 

The  discouraged  student  says  to  himself:  "If 
Truth  demands  such  sorrow  and  sacrifice  as  this, 
I  will  not  serve  her.  It  is  a  false  god  that  would 
so  try  his  devotees." 

Have  you  not  said  it? 

The  toll  you  pay  is  not  to  the  Divine  Self 
within,  but  to  the  "keepers  of  the  threshold," 
that  guard  the  entrance  to  the  dwelling  place  of 
the  Illuminati. 

Earthly  lodges  and  brotherhoods  are  symbols 
of  the  higher  initiations. 

There  is  a  common  mistake  in  the  idea  that  the 
invisible  states  of  consciousness  are  chaotic,  or 
radically  different  from  the  visible. 

"As  belowr,  so  above,  and  as  above  so  below" 
is  an  aphorism  constantly  held  before  the  eyes 
of  the  would-be  initiate.  Each  of  whom,  must 
interpret  and  know  it  for  himself. 

If  the  student  finds  the  Raja  Yoga  sutras  dif- 
ficult of  comprehension  or  of  practice  let  him 
meditate  upon  the  following  mantrams: 

I  know  myself  to  be  above  the  false  concepts 
which  assail  the  personal  self  that  I  appear  to  be. 


Methods  of  Attainment  307 

I  am  united  with  the  All-seeing  All-knowing  Con- 
sciousness. 

I  abide  in  the  consciousness  of  the  Indestructi- 
bility and  Omniscience  of  Being.  I  rest  secure 
and  content  in  the  integrity  of  Cosmic  Law  which 
shall  lead  my  soul  unto  its  own,  guaranteeing  im- 
mortal love.  "5- ^-^i  *^  ^^^-fm^i. 

I  unite  myself  with  that  Power  that  makes  for 
righteousness.  Therefore  nothing  shall  dismay 
or  defeat  me,  because  I  am  at-one  with  the  limit- 
less areas  of  spiritual  consciousness. 

My  mind  is  the  dynamic  center  through  which 
my  soul  manifests  the  Love  which  illumines  the 
world.  Only  good  can  come  to  the  world  through 
me. 

Much  that  is  called  Mental  Science,  New 
Thought  and  Christian  Science  has  for  its  aim 
and  ideal,  avoidance  of  all  that  does  not  make 
for  personal  well-being,  and  worldly  success. 
Avoid  this  ideal;  distrust  this  motive.  Be  ever 
willing  to  sacrifice  the  personal  self  to  the  Real 
Self,  if  need  be.  If  the  ideal  is  truly  the  desire 
for  illumination,  and  not  for  self -gratification, 
the  mind  will  soon  learn  to  distinguish  between 
the  lesser  and  the  greater.  Have  you  longed  for 
perfect,  satisfying  human  love? 

You  shall  have  it  plussed  a  thousand  fold  in 
immortal  srv*.faal  union  with  your  god. 


SUMMARY. 

In  the  foregoing  chapters  we  have  set  forth 
only  a  few  of  the  facts  and  instances  which  the 
inquirer  will  find,  if  he  but  seek,  of  the  reality 
of  a  supra-conscious  faculty,  no  less  actual, 
than  are  the  faculties  of  the  sense-conscious 
human,  which  type  forms  the  average  of  the  race. 

This  faculty,  or  rather  we  should  say  these  fac- 
ulties— because  they  find  expression  in  many 
ways,  through  avenues  correlative  to  the  phys- 
ical senses — prove  the  existence  of  a  realm  of 
consciousness,  far  above  the  planes  of  the  mortal 
or  sense-conscious  man,  and  transcending  the  re- 
gion known  as  the  astral  and  psychic  areas  of 
consciousness. 

All  who  have  reported  their  experiences  in  con- 
tacting this  illimitable  region  unite  in  the  essen- 
tial points  of  experience,  namely: 

The  experience  is  indescribable. 

It  confers  an  unshakable  conviction  of  immor- 
tality. 

It  discloses  the  fact  that  we  are  now  living  in 
this  supra-conscious  realm;  that  it  is  not  some- 
thing which  we  acquire  after  death ;  it  is  not  to  be. 

This  realm  is  characterized  by  a  beautiful,  won- 
derfur  radiant  iridescent  light. 
308 


Methods  of  Attainment  309 

"O  green  fire  of  life,  pulse  of  the  world,  O 
love." 

It  fills  the  heart  with  a  great  and  all-embracing 
love,  establishing  a  realization  of  the  silent  Broth- 
erhood of  the  Cosmos,  demolishing  all  barriers  of 
race  and  color  and  class  and  condition. 

Illumination  is  inclusive.  It  knows  no  separa- 
tion. 

It  announces  the  fact  that  every  person  is  right 
from  his  point  of  view. 

"That  nothing  walks  with  aimless  feet ;  that  no 
one  life  shall  be  destroyed ;  or  cast  as  rubbish  on 
the  void;  when  God  hath  made  the  pile  complete." 

That  Life  and  Love  and  Joy  unutterable  are 
the  reward  of  the  seeker ;  and  that  there  is  no  one 
and  only  path. 

All  systems;  all  creeds;  all  methods  that  are 
formulated  and  upheld  by  altruism  are  righteous, 
and  that  the  Real  is  the  spiritual — the  external  is 
a  dream  from  which  the  world  is  awakening  to 
the  consciousness  of  the  spiritual  man — the  at- 
man — the  Self  that  is  ageless;  birthless;  death- 
less— divine.  On  all  sides  are  evidences  that  the 
race  is  entering  upon  this  new  consciousness. 

So  many  are  weary  with  the  strife  and  struggle 
and  noise  of  the  sense-conscious  life. 

The  illusions  of  possessions  which  break  in  our 
hands  as  we  grasp  them;  of  empty  titles  of  so- 
called  "honor,"  builded  upon  prowess  in  war; 


310  Cosmic  Consciousness 

the  feverish  race  after  wealth — cold  as  the  marble 
palaces  which  it  builds  to  shut  in  its  worship- 
pers— all  these  things  are  becoming  skeleton-like 
and  no  longer  deceive  those  who  are  even  remotely 
discerning  the  new  birth. 

The  new  heraldry  will  have  for  its  badge  of 
royalty  "Love  and  Service  to  my  Fellow  Beings," 
displacing  the  "Dieu  et  mon  Droit"  of  the  anciea* 
ideal. 

The  Dawn  is  here.     Are  you  awake? 
" In  the  heart  of  To-day  is  the  word  of 

Tomorrow. 
The  Builders  of  Joy  are  the  Children  of  Sorrow/'' 


WIN  SUCCESS 


The  Conquest  of 
Poverty 

WISDOM  OF  MANY  GREAT  MINDS 


INFORMATION  THAT  WILL  HELP  YOU 
BUILD  A  MORE  SUCCESSFUL  CAREER 


EXPLAINS 


Why  Men  Fail 


By  ALBERT  J.  HALL 


ILLUMINATES  THE  DANGER  SPOTS  AND  ERECTS 
GUIDE    POSTS   ALONG    THE    ROAD    TO    SUCCESS 

The  Causes  of  Failure  are  so  Intimately 
a  Part  of  Man  That  He  Overlooks  Them 

HE  POINTS  OUT  THE  CAUSES  OF  MOST  FAILURES  AND 
SHOWS  HOW  THE  PERSON  COULD  HAVE  BEEN  A  SUCCESS 


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Love  and  Affection 

An  Essay  on  Analyzing  the  Contents  of  Love  and  Affection 
By  VEIKKO  PALAMOA  and  SHERIJA  LUCY  GOODENOUGH 


The  Human  World  Is  Perishing  for  the  Want  of 
Realized  Love  Ideals 

All  of  us  should  learn  to  love  more:  "To  know  more  is  to  love 
more." 

After  you  read  "Love  and  Affection"  you  will  understand  why 
the  human  world  is  perishing  for  the  lack  of  more  love  for  wife, 
more  love  for  husband,  more  love  for  child,  more  love  for  neighbor, 
more  love  of  the  higher  realities  which  are  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven,  the  Kingdom  of  Love.  The  truest  affections  of  men  and 
women  are  undeveloped  because  the  Love  Nature  is  crushed  before 
the  Higher  Ideals  of  Human  Life  are  realized. 

Friends,  "Love  and  Affection"  will  show  you  how  to  love  more. 
It  teaches  you  how  to  inspire  feelings  of  love  in  those  for  whom 
you  have  a  similar  feeling.  It  explains  all  about  the  philosophy 
and  science  of  love.  If  you  love  and  your  love  is  not  returned  this 
book  will  enable  you  to  turn  indifference  into  sincere  devotion.  If 
your  love  is  returned  you  can  increase  it  a  thousand  fold  and 
hold  it 

If  you  have  been  disappointed  in  love,  read  this  book  and  follow 
the  principles  set  forth.  With  this  knowledge  you  act  and  live  on 
a  higher  plane  and  this  enables  you  to  win  your  true  soul-mate, 

The  Force  of  Love 

Woman's  soul  is  born  when  she  really  loves  I 

Love  is  the  greatest  of  all  forces.  It  is  said  that  one  of  the 
reasons  why  the  war  fell  upon  the  world  was  because  there  was 
so  much  selfishness  and  so  little  love  everywhere  that  humanity 
had  to  be  taught  some  great  lesson  in  suffering. 

There  is  true  Love.  It  is  wonderful  and  holy  and  sometimes 
pathetic.  But  there  is  something  else  which  stalks  around  under 
the  assumed  name  of  love.  It  is  ver>  captivating  but  misleading. 
It  has  fooled  many  a  man  and  woman.  It  has  ruined  and  blasted 
and  degraded  them  and  wrecked  their  homes. 

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The  Great  Work 

By  TK 

This  book  is  from  the  pen  of  the  author 
of  "The  Great  Psychological  Crime,"  »nd  is 
a  presentation,  analysis  and  elucidation  of 
the  fundamental  principle  and  working 
formulary  of  the  Great  School  of  Natural 
Science,  which  principle  and  formulary  are 
known  to  the  "Masters  of  the  Law"  and 
their  students  and  friends  as  the  "con- 
structive principle  of  nature  in  individual 
life." 

The  author  of  "The  Great  Work"  is 
the  American  Representative  of  the  great 
school  of  natural  science,  a  School  whkh 
was  hoary  with  age  when  the  foundation 
of  the  great  Pyramid  was  laid;  a  School 
which  ante-dates  all  present  authentic  his- 
tory and  records;  a  School  against  which 
the  waves  of  superstition  and  ignorance  have  dashed  in  vain,  be- 
cause Us  foundation  is  the  rock  of  TRUTH. 

To  the  intelligent  freemason  as  well  as  the  general  reader 
this  book  is  invaluable,  for  it  puts  before  him  facts  in  the  history 
of  that  Ancient  Order  which  heretofore  have  been  "buried  in  th« 
rubbish  of  the  temple." 

"The  Great  Work"  !s  unique  in  that  its  statements  are  verified 
facts  which  every  reader  may  prove  for  himself  under  right  guid- 
ance if  he  but  have  the  "Intelligence  to  know,  the  Courage  to  dare, 
and  the  Perseverance  to  do."  The  Philosophy  taught  in  this  book 
appeals  to  both  Reason  and  Conscience,  and  is  an  inspiration  to 
"live  the  life  and  know  the  law.'  Every  student  realizes  that,  if 
he  so  wills,  he  may  be  an  heir  to  the  Wisdom  of  the  Ages. 


TABLE  OF 

Chapter 

I    Evolution  of  Operation. 
II     Classification  of  Data. 

III  Truth  and   Light. 

IV  The  Lineal  K«y. 

V    The  Conflict  of  "Authorities." 
VI     What     Constitutes       "Scientific 

Demonstration." 

VII    Nature's     Constructive     Princi- 
ples. 
VIII    Spirituality,    "CoMtructivs   and 

Destructive." 

IX    The  Basis  of  Constructive  Spir- 
ituality. 

X    Whet  is  Morality? 
XI    A  Standard  of  Morals. 


CONTENTS 

Chapter 

Xn  The  "Ethical  Section." 

XIII  Consciousness. 

XTV  Will. 

XV  Desire  and  Choice. 

XVI  The  Law  of  Compensation. 

XVII  The  First  Great  Mile-Stone. 

XVIII  The  Spirit  of  the  Work. 

XIX  Vanity  of  Vanities. 

XX  Psychological  Phthisis. 

XXI  Lions  on  the  Way. 

XXII  The  Second  Great  Mile-Po«t. 

XXin  The  'Technical   Work." 

XXIV  Meat  and  Morals. 

XXV  The  Mark  of  the  Master. 

XXVI  The  Passing  of  the  Master. 


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How  to  Get  What 
You  Want 

The  mind  always  becomes  what  it  is  fed 

^  ,  ,  L  naai^ir^y,  upon.  You  can  double  your  earning  power — 
arouse  your  latent  energies — make  those 
slumbering  possibilities  become  a  reality — 
when  you  do,  you  will  be  successful. 

The  man  who  does  not  want  something  is  in 
a  bad  way.  Everybody  wants  sometliing — 
Friends,  Money,  Influence,  Position,  Success, 
Mental  Virility,  Self-Reliance,  Initiative, 
Courage,  Vitality,  Youth,  A  Fascinating  Per- 
sonality, Opportunity,  Congenial  Surround- 
ings,— what  is  immaterial.  This  78  page  book 
gives  the  secret  for  the  first  time  in  eleven 
lessons. 

THE  ART  OF  GETTING  WHAT  YOU  WANT 

Why  man  does  not  get  what  he  wants.  What  makes  him  want 
things.  The  moment  man  ceases  to  want  that  moment  he  ceases  to 
progress.  Why  wants  should  not  be  surpassed.  Anything  really 
wanted  by  the  human  mind  can  be  had.  Wants  are  the  real  driving 
power  of  the  world.  Man  grows  according  to  his  wants. 

MAN  HAS  NO  NEED  TO  LIMIT  HIS  WANTS 

The  man  that  gets  what  he  wants.  The  negative,  cowardly  atti- 
tude adopted  by  most  people  makes  them  failures.  Few  minds  are 
fully  awake  to  their  own  possibilities.  The  "self-made  men"  have 
been  rien  of  wants.  The  vital  secret  of  having  your  wants  fulfilled, 
of  getting  what  you  want.  What  one  seeks,  comes  to  one.  often  to 
one's  own  undoing. 

WHY  SO  MANY  MEN  ARE  NOT  A  GREATER  SUCCESS 

The  person  that  is  a  medley  of  conflicting  wants.  The  real  cause 
of  unrealized  goals.  How  many  create  violent  mental  storms 
which  distort  their  vision.  The  Advanced  Thinker  is  not  moulded 
by  circumstances.  How  the  pov;ers  of  the  mind  are  divided  and 
their  force  dissipated.  How  to  cultivate  our  wants  and  make  them 
fruitful.  Eow  to  avoid  unwisdom  in  the  direction  of  our  "wants." 

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